Awakened
by Ceillean
Summary: Jedi Knight Kyp Durron still lives in the darkness that has become his world after the spice mines of Kessel and after the destruction of Carida. Until one day when he meets Eliziya and she completely spins his world out of control...
1. Chapter 1

Jedi Knight Kyp Durron took another quick look at the large holographic clock that hovered in midair in front of a tall and thick spire jutting out of the middle of a vast meeting area. Surrounding it were countless beings of all shapes and sizes along with a few dozen shops and cafés, and two very popular restaurants that kept showing up on ads all over the planet. The scents around him, scents he couldn't recognize and some he didn't _want_ to recognize, were all but intoxicating.

Kyp sighed. As was common for his best friend, Nikk Vox was late. Thirty minutes late. Sitting on a low bench made out of some expensive glossy material, Kyp couldn't help but wonder what Nikk had gotten himself into this time. Because even if he ran late, Nikk would usually let him know – if he wasn't otherwise…uh… preoccupied, of course.

Perching his elbows atop his knees, he watched as a large fountain spewed colorful water high into the air, lights at the bottom of the marble basin changing its hue every thirty seconds or so. It was a truly beautiful sight, although he thought the pink and blue holographic flitter flies were a little too much.

With another sigh on his lips, Kyp got to his feet and decided to send Nikk a quick message rather than wait until his Lordship thought Kyp worthy of his presence. Thinking not so happy thoughts about his best friend, Kyp rounded a tight corner and jumped down a short flight of stairs before weaving through a throng of people. On an average day he wouldn't feel comfortable walking through such a vast group of beings, fearing that someone might recognize him. But today he chose to walk the city wearing stylish civilian clothes rather than Jedi robes. He'd even left his lightsaber back in the temporary quarters he shared with Nikk to keep up appearances. For all intents and purposes, he was an average human male out for a stroll.

Kyp wasn't paying attention as he rounded another corner a bit too fast and suddenly ran headlong into a young woman. She was carrying a stack of data cards and they loudly clattered to the floor in front of her feet.

"Sorry." Kyp said quickly, crouching low and hurriedly picking up the scattered data cards.

"This sort of thing happens to me all the time, so there's no need to be sorry."

It was her voice that made him slowly raise his eyes. She was kneeling on the ground in front of him, head bent low as she reached for the data cards. "I am officially a klutz." She continued, oblivious to the fact that Kyp was openly staring at her. He was _stunned_. Her voice was absolutely mesmerizing. In fact, he thought he could listen to her talk for hours on end and he would never ever tire of her voice. "My brother once gave me this gadget thing that was supposedly unbreakable. Well, I accidently tore it up in under an hour." She chuckled softly and looked up to meet his eyes.

And suddenly it was like time stood still.

She was _beautiful_.

Chocolate brown eyes twinkled in the warm sunlight. Dark brown wavy hair was bound into a messy bun at the back of her head. She wore standard civilian clothes that hugged her feminine form perfectly and her skin reminded him of a lighter shade of Corellian brandy. There was a smudge of dirt on the tip of her nose that made her that much more adorable.

Kyp forced himself to look away and handed her the rest of the data cards before they both straightened up. She had to tilt her head back a little to look at him and the smile she shot him nearly knocked him off his feet. "Thank you."

He gave a short nod. "You're very welcome." And as an afterthought he added, "What's your name?"

"Eliziya." She answered quietly. "Everyone calls me Liz, though." She paused for a moment then laughed softly. "I'd shake your hand but I might drop the data cards again."

"Eliziya. That's a beautiful name." Kyp said and he honestly meant it. He could picture himself saying her name over and over again…it was just so lovely.

A slight blush colored her cheeks. "Thank you. And thanks again for helping with the data cards." She smiled shyly and Kyp realized that she was about to leave. He didn't want her to leave.

"I'm Kyp, by the way." He said awkwardly, searching his brain for something decent to say.

"Well, Kyp-the-savior-of-data-cards, thanks for your help. I really appreciate it."

Blurting out _you can't leave yet! _wasn't necessarily the smartest thing to do. He didn't want her thinking that he was a complete idiot, or moreover a crazy lunatic. So he eyed the data cards precariously balanced on her arms in front of her. "Where are you headed?" He asked, reaching over and grabbing half the stack. He wouldn't even give her the chance to refuse his help.

"Uh…" She frowned at him. "Coruscant Medical. But you really don't need to carry those."

"What if someone else runs into you and you have to pick them up all over again?"

Liz wrinkled her nose and wasn't that just the cutest thing he'd ever seen?

"You might have a point there." She smiled at him and that blush returned to her cheeks. "Thank you, Kyp."

"My pleasure." And just like that, he completely forgot about his meeting with Nikk.

*

Liz had to force her legs to keep moving even though her knees were like jelly. How embarrassing! First throwing the data cards to the floor and then having this drop dead gorgeous man help her out? Things like this just didn't happen to her.

This was like something out of one of those romantic holoflicks – dreamy guy meets pretty woman and they live happily ever after. Only this was real life and real life often did not involve a happily ever after.

It was extraordinarily difficult not to stare at him. By the stars, he was so handsome. It was one of those moments Liz wished she could stop time so she could call her friends and give out every single detail – starting from the way his lips quirked up into a half smile, or the way his green eyes glistened, or the way his deep voice made a shiver run down her spine…

"I hope this isn't too much of a hassle for you." Liz said quietly, keeping her gaze straight ahead. Because the moment she looked back into those pretty dark green eyes, she would be a puddle of goo at his feet.

"Not at all."

Oh, and that voice! He spoke with a touch of an accent she couldn't place but by the stars, it gave that deep, velvety voice a whole lot of sexiness.

She cleared her throat as they weaved their way through a group of individuals on their way to the market area up ahead. Already she could hear the vendors yelling out their specialties for the day, different voices and different languages all at once. She made out a lovely piece of music from a Twi'lek vendor accompanied by two lithe female dancers; a very successful advertisement for the goods he sold.

"Are you from around here?" Kyp asked, having to raise his voice just a bit to be heard over the chatter and noise around them. Liz cleared her throat and smiled at him and as she had expected, looking into his eyes wasn't smart. She tripped and nearly fell forward but she caught herself just in time and not a single data pad slipped from her grasp.

But she knew her face was glowing like a beacon. "Uh…yeah." She answered a moment later. "Born and raised here on Coruscant. What about you?"

He shook his head, strands of thick dark hair falling into his handsome face. She took the moment to take a closer look at him. Straight jaw line, straight nose that gave him a sort of aristocratic look, full lips that lifted up into a smile as he caught her watching him. Liz hurriedly looked away, again feeling her cheeks flame up.

"Not from Coruscant." He said, side-stepping a large Bothan male carrying his crying kids on both his arms. "I'm from a colony world in the Anoat system."

Liz wrinkled her nose. "Sorry to have to tell you this but I have no clue where that is."

He laughed and it was loveliest sound. "It's pretty far away, actually."

"So what brings you to Coruscant then?"

She stepped closer to get out of the way of a group of approaching Devaronians carrying bags of whatever they had bought at the market. Liz and Kyp descended a flight of stairs carved out of stone and touched down on the main market. The place was packed with beings, the vendors selling all sorts of foods and drinks, along with a multitude of spices from all over the galaxy.

"Work." Kyp answered slowly, almost hesitantly, as they made their way through yet another pack of beings towards the small public transport up ahead.

"Sounds familiar." Liz said with a slight smile. "I had to go through all these data cards for an assignment. Research is no fun especially when you have to do it alone."

Kyp raised his brows. "Research for what?"

"I work at Coruscant Medical." She put just a touch of pride into her voice. "I'm training to be a counselor, starting off as a social worker for cases mainly involving kids around the age of five. There are a lot of rules and regulations I have to memorize and you wouldn't believe some of those paragraphs. Insanity, I swear." She smiled. "But I think it's worth it. Helping others…I guess I'd say it's sort of my calling."

Liz pursed her lips as she realized she was talking way too much and way too fast. "Listen to me go. I should learn to shut my mouth now and again, huh?"

"I like listening to you talk."

She stopped as Kyp said this, eyeing him curiously. The tone in his voice had shifted downward, the sexiness factor therefore going through the roof.

And she was at a loss for words suddenly. Liz smiled and awkwardly managed to tuck strands of wayward hair behind her ear. They reached the transport pad a few minutes later, silently walking side by side. The transport wasn't crowded, thankfully, and they found vacant seats right near the entrance.

"Do you always do this?" Liz asked with a smirk. At his questioning glance she went on. "Help out girls in distress?"

Kyp laughed and a lovely shiver ran along her skin. "Actually, no. I guess that makes you special."

By the stars! She was melting. Instant gooey puddle. Had he any idea what he was doing to her talking like that?

She cleared her throat, thinking it best to bring reality back into the picture. "There's nothing special about me. I'm just your average Coruscanti woman trying to make a living."

Kyp shrugged. "Somehow I doubt that." He winked at her and she couldn't help the laugh bubbling up.

"You're quite the charmer, aren't you?"

Again that shrug. "I don't know. Am I?"

Liz gripped the data pads a little tighter. Because holding something in her hands as tight as possible brought her back to reality, let her know that even though it felt like a dream, it was real. Sitting in a public transport with this beautiful man who was making her feel like she was so much more than she really was…by the stars, it was real.

"Yeah." She answered softly. "You are." 


	2. Chapter 2

"I just have to drop these off at the front desk." Liz said quietly, smiling as she took the cards from his arms. They stood just outside the entrance of Coruscant Medical Center, off to the side of a set of huge double doors so they wouldn't be in the way of anyone hurrying in or outside. "I'll be right back."

Kyp breathed in deeply as he watched her go. There were countless beings around the main entrance, some of them eyeing him curiously because he no doubt looked like an idiot. He caught himself grinning and then he chuckled while he shook his head. He'd just met the woman and already he knew he wouldn't be able to get her off his mind. There was something about her, something that spoke to him on such a deep level…he wasn't even sure how to describe it.

In the course of his life, Kyp had met many people. Alien as well as human, male as well as female; there had been a few offers from certain individuals along the way but so far Kyp had never been interested in romantic affairs. Foremost on his mind had been to get his life back together, to remember what it was like to live in freedom and finally become something more than a slave trapped within the nightmare that had been the spice mines of Kessel.

Meeting Eliziya had been so unexpected that he couldn't help the smile that kept tugging at his lips. She seemed so…wonderful.

_Get a grip, Durron. You've known her for what…thirty minutes?  
_  
He raked a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. He had only little experience when it came to women. There was no problem with casual talk. He could talk to almost anyone in a few different languages but there was a difference when the person opposite him simply took his breath away with an exotic beauty. And just like that there was an odd flutter in the pit of his stomach. There weren't many things in the universe that made Kyp nervous – hell, he'd seen enough sithspit in the course of his life – but it seemed that this girl, Eliziya, was definitely a source.

_Don't mess this up.  
_  
He thought about Nikk and what his best friend would say to the fact that Kyp had met an apparent decent girl. He had to smile when he imagined Nikk giving him pointers how to woe and be the perfect gentlemen. But Nikk's pick up tactics were dubious at best.

Kyp dug out his comlink from his pants pocket and frowned at the little metallic apparatus. Nikk had yet to call and in all honesty it had Kyp worried. That the man was late for a meeting or for a date was as normal as sunshine on Tattooine but Nikk _always_ called; it was a general rule.

He flipped open the com link and dialed his friends' frequency. When there was no answer, he tucked the com link back into his pocket, brows pulled into a deep frown.

**

Kyp smiled when Liz came through the double doors of the Med Center. He shoved the worrying thoughts about Nikk to the back of his mind, telling himself that if something had happened to the man, Kyp would have felt it. They'd been friends ever since they'd trained at the Jedi Academy and they spent most of their time together. Hell, they even shared quarters.

If something had happened, Kyp would know.

Frowning, he held on to that thought as tightly as he possibly could.

"Now that that's taken care of," Liz said quietly, "I was hoping you'd join me for a cup of caf? There's a place not too far from here. Supposed to be pretty good."

Kyp inhaled slowly. Force, she was pretty. Especially the way she tilted her head to the side like that. It took him a moment to answer, he was so engrossed by her beauty. And those big brown eyes, so full of curiosity and wonder were sure as hell doing a number on him. He'd be a kriffing idiot to let the invitation pass.

"I would love to join you for a cup of caf."

Her eyes lit up with the smile that graced her delicate features. She led the way down towards the transport station they'd used to get to the med center. A long pedestrian slidewalk within a transparasteel tube brought them towards the Senate district. The place had gotten its name due to the fact that where ever you stood you could see the senate halls looming up ahead.

Eliziya pointed towards a little tap caf snuggled in between a gift shop and a small department store. _Kelzo's_ was definitely a comfortable little place to get to know someone. It was marginally quiet with soft music setting the mood; the tables were set out with enough space to not feel crowded; there were lit candles of different shapes and sizes giving everything a little romantic flair.

Kyp followed Eliziya to a quiet area in the back. They were mostly alone with only two other couples talking quietly while enjoying their drinks.

"You come here often?" Kyp asked as he slid his fingers along an activation point in the table. A holographic menu appeared between him and Liz, showing everything _Kelzo's_ had to offer. Most of the drinks and meals were a bit too much for Kyp. He liked it simple so he went for a large cup of caf, extra strong, black.

He wasn't the least bit surprised when Liz put in an order for hot chocolate. Somehow it suited her.

"Honestly, I've never been here before." The slightest blush colored her cheeks. "A friend recommended it."

A serving droid hovered towards them, carefully placing their drinks on the table. The caf was just what he needed after a day like this, Kyp thought. First day of vacation, Nikk goes missing and he meets a beautiful girl whose smile kept making his belly flutter. Caffeine was definitely the way to go.

"Tell me about yourself, Kyp."

He kept a plain face, letting none of his emotions into his features. Talking about his life was something he rarely did. Dredged up way too many unwanted and dirty memories. And if she kept up with the news, telling her that he was a Jedi would make her put one and one together and then bam! That would _so_ be it for the day.

How about a little normality for a change?

He didn't want to ruin this with talk about his life. He wasn't an honest to goodness decent guy and he doubted that he would ever be; there were things about his past that he didn't want Eliziya to know.

He wanted her to get to know the person he'd become.

And today that person was an average human male with nothing much to tell.

"Well…I'm 6'1", I weigh about 176 pounds. I think. Haven't checked that in a while. I love Corellian food. Especially that funny looking nut cake. Keep forgetting what it's called, though. Uh…I'm visiting my surrogate Dad right now. Waiting on my friend to finally call and I'm having caf with a very beautiful lady."

Eliziya laughed softly as she lifted her mug to her lips. "Are you always like this?"

Kyp raised his brows in a gesture of surprise. "Like what?"

She shrugged. "Flippant."

"Me? Flippant? _Never_." He winked at her while he raised his caf to his lips, breathing in the bitter scent of his extra strong black brew.

Eliziya laughed when she put her mug back on the table. "So you have family here?"

"Sort of. Han got me out of a sticky situation a few years ago. He's been there for me ever since. He's family to me."

"It's nice to hear that." She leaned back into her chair, folding her hands in her lap. "Not all people are lucky to have a caring family at their back." She said and her voice took on a curious tone, sad almost.

"True words." He turned his gaze away from her, willing his heart to beat in a normal pace. Just the way she looked at him made his blood smolder. And he couldn't help the sudden image of her hands on his body, touching him until he couldn't bear it anymore.

His com link chirped and ripped him out of his day dream.

With an apologetic shrug, he grabbed the little thing from his pocket and answered in a clipped tone. "Yeah."

"I need pick up." There was static but Kyp instantly recognized Nikk's deep voice. "Like now."

"Where are you?"

"Lower levels. Section Alpha. Rainbow apartment complex, terminals one through three."

Kyp lifted a brow. "What the hell are you doing in the lower levels?"

"It's a long story. How about you get your ass moving?"

Kyp sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Nikk just had impeccable timing, didn't he?

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Hurry up. I think the people around here don't like me too much."

Kyp snorted. "I wonder why."

"Ha ha, smart ass. Get going, alright? I mean, in about five minutes they'll have blasters pointed at my head and then they'll try to rob me and who knows what else they c –"

Kyp severed the connection and with a heavy sigh he tucked his com link back into his pocket. "I'm sorry, Eliziya. I guess I have to cut our little meeting short."

"I thought as much. Your friend sounds like he's in trouble."

"He's always in trouble." He threw a few credcoins onto the table, enough to pay for the tab and then some. Annoyed and irritated, Kyp got to his feet and eyed Eliziya curiously.

Would he ever see her again? He wanted to. He wanted to get to know her. And he wanted her to get to know him.

"Listen, I –"

"Do you have a speeder parked around here?" She interrupted him. "Because mine's at the med center. I try not to use the thing so often because traffic drives me nuts. But if you want, I could take you to where ever your friend is waiting."

Slowly a smile spread across his face. She was offering to help him even though she didn't know him. It worried him just a little. Was she always this careless when she met strangers like him on the street? For all she knew he could be some kind of mad man, a murderer on the loose.

_Which isn't even too far off the mark…  
_  
Accepting her help would mean he could spend more time with her. And good-bye could wait just a while longer.

"Thank you. Eliziya." He said with a nod.


	3. Chapter 3

Her speeder turned out to be a sporty four seater that would undoubtedly make Nikk drool all over the thing. "My brother gave it to me. My last speeder was falling apart, it was so old. And since Kyrian's rather protective…" Eliziya said as she unlocked the doors. They swerved upward like wings and she slid in behind the controls. "He has this thing with speeders and ships. They have to be safe and they have to look nice. As in turn heads kind of nice."

"And you keep it locked up in storage?" Kyp asked when he settled into the passenger seat.

"Not storage. Just the garage. As I said, traffic drives me nuts. So I hardly use it."

"When's the last time you flew?"

Liz pursed her lips and gave him a sheepish look. "About six months ago."

"Are you sure you can get us there safely? Or should I be worried?"

She laughed. "Shut up."

"I'm serious. A lot can change in six months. Do you even remember all the traffic signals?"

"Do you want to walk?" Her eyes twinkled mischievously.

"I'd rather take my chances with you than have Nikk disembowel me."

"Don't worry." Liz said with a wink. "I haven't forgotten how to fly."

"I truly value my life, Liz." Kyp said while buckling up and then sliding down into a slouching position. He folded his hands atop his stomach. "Please don't hurt the speeder."

"Stop whining, infant."

"Infant?" Kyp called out with mock incredulity. "I'll have you know that –"

"You like to whine like a baby?" She winked at him as she started the speeder and slowly backed out of the parking space.

Kyp raised his brows, momentarily at a loss for words. She was teasing him. And he kriffing _loved_ it.

"Are you always like this?" He asked.

"Like what?"

"Flippant."

Her laugh was the loveliest sound he'd ever heard.

*

Eliziya loved the way Kyp smiled at her, the way he looked at her. It felt like she'd known him for years already. Hard to believe that it had only been a few hours.

She gripped the control column in both hands, the cool leather warming up against her touch. Everything was exactly the way she had left it six months earlier. Clean and polished and it still smelled like red berries. She'd dropped a few in the backseat once and accidently squished them into the seat. Thank the Gods Kyrian hadn't been around to see it. There would have been a long and tedious speech about vehicle tidiness including a sharp slap to the head.

"Do you have a nav system?" Kyp asked, gesturing to the dashboard.

"Of course." Liz flipped a switch and a small flat screen slid out of a hidden compartment. A moment later a map of Coruscant showed up on the screen, the highlights of city central marked by little red dots. "But I won't need the nav computer." Liz said, giving him a side long glance.

"The lower levels are pretty vast."

"Rainbow apartments aren't all that spread out." She began, swerving the speeder into a lower lane. "Although why your friend would go there is beyond me. Pretty nasty place to spend your time."

Kyp raised his brows. "And you know this how?"

Almost wickedly slow her lips lifted into a smile. "I grew up with two brothers, Kyp. Our parents were hardly ever home. Take a wild guess what we did in our spare time. I know my way around the planet, believe me."

Kyp settled back into the seat and looked through the window, smiling slightly. Eliziya watched him from the corner of her eye and couldn't help but admire his handsomeness yet again. She wondered what his hair would feel like, if it was really as soft as it looked. Would his lips be soft if she touched them? Gods, what would it feel like to kiss him?

Eliziya frowned at her own thoughts. For crying out loud, she'd just met the guy and already she was fantasizing about kissing him?

_You're crazy.  
_  
Taking a ride with a stranger in her speeder – _alone –_ was a thing she would usually _never_ do either. But on a level she couldn't explain, she trusted him. Maybe she was being blinded by her sudden and confusing feelings or maybe she was just being plain stupid but she honestly didn't care.

Because for the first time in years, she felt _that_ spark again; the spark that made her feel alive, even _happy_. It had been so long since last she'd known what it was like to be carefree, even if only for a little while. And she wanted to hold on to that feeling as long as she possibly could and if that meant taking a ride halfway across the planet with this beautiful stranger, then she would do it. _  
_  
"There's something I have to tell you." Kyp said while turning her way again. His green eyes were ablaze with amusement.

"Oh?"

"Yeah." He leaned towards her a little and lowered his voice, as if his next words were the kind that needed to be kept secret at all costs. "I think that even my grandmother could fly faster than you."

It was difficult not to laugh. "Are you seriously complaining about my flying skills?"

"I'm just saying you're slow."

"Well, I mind the traffic laws, thank you very much."

"Liz. You're going _below_ the speed limit."

Indeed, she was. Laughter bubbled out of her throat so suddenly that it surprised even herself. It had been quite some time since someone had complained about her flying skills.

Eliziya accelerated suddenly, hands tight on the control column. Kyrian had shown her everything she needed to know about how to best fly the speeder, including skimming the traffic laws. She swerved the speeder sideways, narrowly missing a traffic droid, then dipped towards a lane that led them further down to the lower levels.

The more she accelerated, the larger Kyp's smile grew. "Well, I'm impressed."

She sent him a wink, changing into a lower lane. She could already recognize the beginning of the lower levels. The further you went down, the darker it became. It was as if light was too scared to venture any further. Knowing what lurked down in the shadows, it wouldn't have been a surprise.

About ten minutes later, Liz found a landing space away from public eye. She parked as far behind a building as she could, not too keen on coming back and seeing that someone had broken into her vehicle.

"Rainbow apartments, section alpha, coming right up." Liz said cheerfully, gesturing towards an ugly brown building just a few feet away. Soot and dirt glued to the windows while strange looking plant life crawled up the front of the entire building. It was the smell that got to her, though.

She wrinkled her nose. "Nasty place."

"But home to hundreds if not more." Kyp got out his com link and a moment later Liz heard his friends' voice over the line.

"Where the hell are you?"

"Right outside."

"Great. I'm in a situation that involves one hell of an ugly guy so it would be great if you could hurry the hell up." He lowered his voice suddenly and went on hastily. "Apartment D."

Eliziya raised her brows. "I think I'll just wait here."

The look that Kyp shot her nearly made her melt inside. "Like hell I'm leaving you out here alone. Stay close to me." He said as he led the way into the building.

**

Kyp was going to punch Nikk in the head when he finally got to him. And then maybe smash his head into the wall just to make sure Nikk got the message. Kyp had lost count how many times he'd had to save the man's butt out of a stupid and usually avoidable situation.

And thinking that Nikk only needed a pick up (which was peculiar since Nikk had left with his own vehicle) he'd accepted Liz's help. Had he known there might be danger involved, he'd have declined the offer.

The inside of the building looked much like the outside. Old and musty with dirt on the walls and even a few scorch marks. The carpet had holes and stains, one of the stains undoubtedly blood.

Kyp stretched out with the Force and pinpointed Nikk's position one floor above them. He took Liz's hand and led the way down a cluttered hall. They walked up a flight of creaking old stairs rather than jeopardize their health in one of the old lift tubes.

There were broken bottles on the floor, leaking whatever they'd carried before. An elderly human sat huddled in a corner, a hood covering his head. Muttering to himself, the man lifted his eyes and the light blue lines around the man's iris told Kyp that he was jacked up on glitterstim. There was an injector with a residual fluorescent neon blue substance still clutched in the man's hand.

Thanks to his involuntary upbringing, Kyp knew a lot about spice. Too much even. So he knew to hurry the hell away from the human because one of several effects of glitterstim was enhanced mental capabilities such as telepathy.

The higher he and Liz went, the worse the smell got. Kyp took a look over his shoulder but Liz was holding up superbly. She was curious. He could tell by the look on her face and through the Force he only caught a few strings of excitement.

It was almost as if she were enjoying it.

They rounded a corner and were about to walk down the hall when a door exploded outward and a man clad in black smashed against the wall. Kyp grabbed Liz and pulled her out of sight behind the corner. He lifted his finger to his mouth, a gesture for silence. She nodded.

Kyp crouched low and peeked around the wall, watching as a bully of a male hovered above Nikk. He was a cyclone, one huge scary looking white eye in the middle of his forehead. He hovered above Nikk, growling like an animal with his fists balled at his sides. Saliva dripped from the sides of his mouth as he yelled incomprehensible words but it was obvious by his voice and stance that he was beyond pissed off.

Force, what the hell had Nikk done this time?

Nikk slowly pushed himself up to the wall, a smile on his bloodied face. There were bruises along his temple and his right eye was all but swollen shut. By the way he favored his left side Kyp supposed there was a lot more damage than he could detect from afar. What made Kyp even more wary was Nikk's flickering Force presence. There wasn't the usual bright green aura he associated with his friend; it was muddled, dirty, like looking into a muddy pond.

Nikk wasn't doing well at all.

"Dammit." Kyp muttered under his breath. He turned to Liz. "I need you to stay here."

"Are you crazy?" She hissed. "You can't go over there alone!"

He blinked, surprised. She wanted to help him? "Liz, I don't want you to get hurt."

"Well then I guess you'd better protect me." Her smile was breathtakingly beautiful but her stubbornness was not. "Look at that big guy over there." She pointed towards the cyclone. "He's like a wild monster ready to bite your head off. And, no offense, he's a lot bigger than you. I don't –"

"Trust me. I can handle this."

And sure as hell he could. He was an ace when it came to wielding the Force but if he did so now, he would reveal his identity to Liz. He wasn't sure if wanted to risk it just yet. But if it was his only chance to help Nikk, than by the Gods, he would do it.

"Please stay here." He said, putting a little force into his voice. He didn't wait for her answer as he stepped around the corner, casually stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

"You're getting blood all over the carpet." He said with a light lift of his brows, eyeing the cyclone and then shifting his gaze to Nikk. He was completely out of it, slowly sliding down the wall with his head tilted to the side. His body twitched, his Force aura shifting to a darker blue.

"What's it to you?" The cyclone growled, wiping his scarred face with the back of a meaty hand.

Kyp shrugged. "Besides the fact that it's my friends' blood?" He narrowed green eyes at the cyclone. "Back off if you know what's good for you."

The cyclone threw his head back and laughed loudly. For a moment there, Kyp thought the walls would buckle. Hard muscles strained underneath a tight shirt as the man bellowed again. He lowered his single gaze on Kyp's smaller form and no doubt thought he could take it on with Kyp in a heartbeat.

"I could step on you."

Kyp shrugged nonchalantly, hands still in his pockets. "You're always welcome to try."

The cyclone came forward, howling at the top of his lungs. Kyp caught a whiff of his breath and grimaced, waving his hand before his nose. "Have you _heard_ of breathmints, you ugly piece of sithspit?"

He was fast though. The cyclone went to smash his fist into Kyp's skull but Kyp was faster. He ducked underneath, jumped up to grab the cyclone around the neck and pulled down with all he was worth. He pulled his knee up, smashing it into the cyclone's face. He howled as he stumbled back but he wasn't deterred in the least. In fact it seemed he was more pissed off than he'd been before.

Kyp sighed as the cyclone ran towards him.

He summoned the Force around him, collecting its energy into a small invisible ball in front of his outstretched hands. When the cyclone was only inches away, he let go. It smashed into his opponents chest, throwing him backward. Kyp added a few punches in quick succession, mostly to hide the fact that he'd used the Force.

He could feel Liz watching.

The cyclone landed in a heap on the floor, breathing heavily as he stared at the ceiling. He was dazed but otherwise seemed to be unhurt.

Kyp hurried towards Nikk, gripping one of his arms and slinging it over his shoulder. "Come on, big guy. Let's get you to a medic." 


	4. Chapter 4

Liz blinked a few times after digesting what she'd seen Kyp do. She'd rarely witnessed anyone move so damned fast before. One moment he was there, the next he was over there…ducking and punching and…holy hell!

And Kyp was shorter than the cyclone – how could he have gotten the upper hand so quickly? She had to wonder what Kyp did for a living. But almost immediately her mind wandered off the matter at hand and she suddenly found herself trying to ignore the heat that spread through her body. Because hell, that man could _move_.

Still hiding behind the corner, she watched as Kyp helped his friend to his feet. Or tried to at any rate. Nikk was obviously too heavy. Kyp stumbled forward, bracing one hand against the wall, nearly dropping his friend. Eliziya ran towards him, grabbing Nikk's other arm and together she and Kyp made their way back down the stairs and out into the cool, smelly air of the Coruscanti underworld.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly, surveying the area with open eyes. There was no telling what lurked out here in the dark and now would be the worst time for any sort of being to jump them. They were vulnerable. She hurried her steps just a bit.

"Perfectly fine." Kyp answered, voice strained as he hauled Nikk towards the speeder.

If she thought she'd had it bad before, now it was all but impossible to keep her eyes off him.

"Medical center?" She asked a moment later when she examined Nikk a bit closer. He looked a mess. There was a long ugly gash on the side of his face, bleeding profusely. His temple was bruised, lip split and his right eye was swollen. And his entire body kept shuddering.

"Yeah." Kyp grunted. "Whoever did this to him must have given him something. Obviously the twitching is not normal."

When they reached the speeder, Eliziya helped Kyp gently lay Nikk in the backseat. "You take the controls." She said softly, heading for the passenger side. "Show me if you're better at flying than I am."

"You know what they say about men and women at the controls." He said without much humor in his voice as he slid into the front seat.

"Oh, you better not continue that line of thinking." She plopped down next to him, taking a look over her shoulder at Kyp's friend. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

Kyp took a deep, steadying breath while he pressed his finger on the ignition button. "I hope so."

*

Kyp hauled ass back towards the medical center, completely ignoring the fact that he was breaking at least fifty traffic laws.

He didn't care in the least.

It was Nikk's life on the line and he would go through hell and back to make sure Nikk came out unscathed on the other side. They'd been through so much together it was all but unfathomable to think of a life without Nikk Vox in it. They were more than just friends.

They were brothers.

And he took care of his own, no matter what.

Minutes stretched into eternity. All of a sudden other traffic participants couldn't fly worth a damned and always seemed to be in Kyp's way. He cursed loudly and stomped on the accelerator, bent on getting to the med center as soon as possible. Nikk's life presence in the Force was flickering like a broken light.

The muscles in his arms went taut when he gripped the control yoke with both hands until his knuckles whitened. There was a traffic patrol droid up ahead and it seemed to take forever until they could finally move again. Force, this was taking way too long.

He stiffened when he felt Liz's warm touch on his arm. Slowly he glanced her way, soaking in her presence like a sponge. "Trust that he'll be okay, Kyp."

She was so beautiful to him at that moment. So achingly beautiful. She'd seen this through with him to the end, getting Nikk out of that building, she'd watched as he'd had to finish things with the cyclone and all the while she'd stayed calm. She hadn't even complained and now here she sat beside him, comforting him.

He wanted to kiss her.

The urge was so powerful that he turned away from her and tried concentrating on the traffic lane. But it didn't do him any good. Her touch was so soft, so gentle, her voice sweet as she kept telling him not to worry so much, he couldn't help but wonder how she would feel in his arms.

There was something about her that spoke to him, that made him want to know everything there was to know about her.

He ground his teeth and stared ahead.

_What the hell is the matter with you?  
_  
This was so not the time to be thinking about holding Eliziya. In fact if he were smart he would turn away from her as soon as possible. His life sure as kriff wasn't some fun merry-go round which had been proven back at the rainbow apartment complex with that cyclone figure. She could have been hurt or worse.

He turned his head towards her again and managed a little smile. Obviously he liked her.

A lot.

But to protect her, the best thing to do was walk away.

*

It took a little longer than anticipated to get to the medical center. Kyp landed the speeder at the ambulance entrance, jumping out before it had even settled down. He hurried to get to Nikk, gently pulling the taller man out of the backseat. Liz ran around to help him.

They weren't even completely through the doors when a medical team came their way, a nurse barking orders in a commando voice while pushing a repulsor gurney.

"What happened?" A man in a long white coat approached. He was young for a Doctor, Liz thought. Just a little older than herself with blond…well, fur around his jaw and short hair sticking up from his scalp.

"Besides the obvious?" Kyp said with a little frown. "I don't know." Kyp helped lay Nikk atop the gurney. Slowly he crossed Nikk's arms over his chest and made sure that he was safely secured before taking a step back. Nikk's fingers still twitched.

"We'll take care of him." The young Doctor said, ushering his team towards the emergency room without a further look towards Kyp.

The ensuing silence was beyond unnerving.

Liz wrapped her arms around her ribs feeling cold all of a sudden. This hadn't been the way she'd pictured the day to end. What if Kyp's friend died? Going by the look on Kyp's face, he was thinking along the same lines. There was the look of loss in his eyes and it nearly tore her apart.

"Will you be okay?"

He blinked a few times before turning towards her again. The smile he sent her way hardly reached his eyes. She took a deep breath and simply slung her arms around his neck, pulling him close into a hug.

It took a while before she felt his arms encircle her waist but when they did, she wished that he would never let her go. She breathed in his spicy cologne and closed her eyes as strands of his long hair tickled the tip of her nose.

He pulled back and avoided looking at her.

"Will you be okay?" She asked again. Lifting her hand, she touched a finger to his chin and made him face her.

"I'll be fine." He cleared his throat. "You should head home. You don't need to stay."

"I want to stay."

He smiled sadly and tucked strands of her hair behind her ear. "Go home, Eliziya." He said gently. "This could take a while."

"I have all the time in the world. I'm not leaving."

"Liz –"

"I'm _not_ leaving."

His eyes searched her face, his expression utterly devoid of emotion. It was as if he was debating what to do. Was it so hard to simply accept the fact that she wanted to stay?

That she wanted to stay with him?

But then he nodded and took a deep breath. "I guess we should sit down and wait it out then."

*

They sat side by side in a row of white plasteel chairs. There was a dripping water dispenser in the corner and a table stacked with old reading material. The walls were white with a few paintings attached and there was a small flat screen above the window that showed the news. The sound was off.

It was a typically normal waiting area. But nothing was typically normal at that moment.

What the hell had Nikk gotten himself into? Kyp ran his hands through his hair as he leaned forward, elbows digging into his thighs. There was an odd sting in the center of his chest as he imagined what the medical team was doing to his best friend.

"That painting is horribly ugly."

Kyp lifted his head with a slight frown. He looked to Liz and then to the painting she was referring to. It was a simple green landscape with a single tree. Nothing spectacular about it.

"It's just a painting."

"It's not a very enlightening painting. And it's not very optimistic, either. There's a single tree on a vast green field. It screams solitude."

His lips lifted into a little smile. She sat next to him with her legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. Her hands lay folded on her belly and she leaned her head against the wall. Brown eyes narrowed at the painting, she took a breath and shrugged. "They should have happy pictures hanging in a waiting area."

"With clowns and ponies and elves with pointy ears?"

Slowly she turned to face him. He could have drowned in the depth of her dark eyes. The moment she looked at him, a shiver ran along his spine and his blood sped up in his veins. There was a part of him that knew this wasn't a good idea, that whatever happened between them would lead to a difficult and dirty road. But the other part yearned to be touched by her. And for the moment he didn't want to deny that his attraction towards her was rapidly growing.

"You don't have to be all snippy about it." She said.

"I'm not snippy."

"Yes, you are."

Goodness, she loved to argue. And on top of that she could give him a run for his money in terms of stubbornness. It was different, he had to admit. Usually no one tried to argue with him because they never won and most were quite intimidated by him one way or the other. But most knew who he was, what he'd done.

Liz was still clueless.

"You are the most amazing person I've ever met." He suddenly blurted out. It wasn't exactly what he'd wanted to say. In fact he still told himself that it would be best to convince her to go home.

Her brows shot up. "You must have me confused with someone else." Her wicked smile was his undoing. His eyes wandered to her full lips and he thought again about kissing her. What harm could one kiss do?

_A lot.  
_  
He jumped to his feet all of a sudden, no doubt surprising the hell out of her. He walked up to the water dispenser, filled up a little cup and drank it all in one go.

When he tried for a refill Liz went to him and took the cup from his hand. He wished like hell she'd stop being so damned nice to him. He sure as hell didn't deserve her kindness. Force, if she knew half the things…

She was staring at him with her mouth twisted up into a smile. Their eyes locked for a long moment. A voice inside his mind kept screaming at him to turn away and never look back but he couldn't.

He just couldn't.

"Eliziya." He whispered, stepping closer.

"Yes?"

_Don't do it.  
_  
"May I kiss you?"

_Nothing good can come of this…  
_  
"Yes." She whispered softly. He leaned forward slowly, closing his eyes as his lips touched hers. It was like electricity ran through him, tingling from head to toe. A soft moan escaped his throat as she came closer, leaning into him while running her hands up his torso.

He cupped the side of her face, running a thumb along her cheek. And when her lips parted slightly and the tip of his tongue touched hers, it was like he was floating through air.

Eliziya grabbed onto his shoulders and pulled him closer. A moment later he wrapped his arms around her and deepened their kiss. Her groan of pleasure reverberated through his skin, edging him on.

Her hands slid up into his hair where she gently tugged at the disheveled dark strands. He kissed her slow and lazy, not in any kind of hurry because he wanted to enjoy every waking second with her. She tasted sweet, like berries and her scent reminded him of a bouquet of flowers. He slid his hand to the back of her head while his other hand lay on her hip. He could have stayed like this for eternity. It was nothing like he'd imagined.

It was even better.

Slowly they broke the kiss, nipping at each others' lips a moment longer. "That was wonderful." She whispered. She hadn't moved away from him. He still held her closely and in all honesty, he didn't want to let her go.

"Yeah." He answered, closing his eyes to find a bit of his composure again. Because now that he'd tasted her, he wanted more.

He dropped his hands to his sides and went back over to the row of seats. Liz sat down beside him.

Silence stretched between them for a long while until Liz sat forward, elbows on her knees. "I still think that painting is horribly ugly."

Kyp laughed. He was still laughing several minutes later. 


	5. Chapter 5

The young Doctor returned a while later holding a chart in his hands. His expression was calm and he managed a little smile when Kyp stood up from the uncomfortable white plasteel chair. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and took a deep breath. "Will he be okay?"

The Doctor gave a curt nod. "There were a few broken bones and cracked ribs. Physically he wasn't doing too bad. We found a substance in his blood that has me worried, though." He paused. "Spice."

Kyp raised his brows. "He's not on drugs."

The Doctor cleared his throat, which was evident proof that he didn't believe a damned word Kyp said. Kyp narrowed his eyes. "He doesn't do drugs." He said slowly in a voice laced with venom. "He's not that kind of guy."

"I'm sure that's what you believe –"

Kyp took a step forward. The Doctor backed up. "He doesn't do drugs."

He felt Eliziya's warm touch on his arm and surprisingly her presence soothed his anger a bit. But he didn't back off the Doctor. In fact he lowered his voice even more. "You check those test results. You examine him again. And you prove that whatever is in his system was forcefully administered."

The Doctor swallowed. "I'm not sure –"

Kyp jabbed a finger into the man's chest. "He's a good guy, Doc. I won't have you spread lies about him, understood? Do what you have to do but you better be damned sure about the results once you file your report."

The misuse of drugs always had to be reported to the authorities. And wouldn't that just be a peachy headline? Jedi Knight almost dies of drug overdose?

The Doctor took another step back. "He's resting for the time being. You can see him in about an hour." He turned on his heel and hurried down the corridor, fancy shoes clicking away on the floor.

Kyp turned to Liz and forced a smile. He hoped it seemed like a reassuring one but when she arched a brow his way, he simply gave up. "He's not that kind of guy, Liz."

"I believe you." She said softly. She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "I believe you."

*

Eliziya gripped Kyp's hand tightly as he led the way through the maze of corridors inside the medical center. The past hour had gone by with Kyp pacing back and forth without saying a single word. He was obviously beyond worried for his friend and even more upset about what the Doctor had implied.

They came up to a nondescript grey door with the number 0512 stamped in the far right corner. Kyp touched the control panel and it retracted into the wall. Eliziya wrinkled her nose at the smell. Even though she worked at Coruscant Medical, she never got used to the smell.

Kyp's friend was alone in the small room. There were beeping machines standing to the left of the bed, showing his vital signs and administering medication through a thin white tube that was attached to his hand. Eliziya winced – needles…

Kyp let go of Liz's hand as he slowly approached the bed. Liz stayed behind feeling out of place somehow. This was their moment and she wasn't part of it.

"Nikk." Kyp said slowly. "You alive?"

There was a light cough and then a wheezy intake of breath. "You're late, you idiot."

Eliziya hid a smile behind her hand.

"But I got a damned good reason."

Nikk smiled a little. His face was swollen, especially around the eyes. His lower lip was split and there was a large bacta patch on his left cheek. "Sure you do." He said slowly. "If it doesn't involve a woman, you have no excuse."

Kyp turned towards Liz and held out his hand for her to take. "This is Eliziya, Nikk."

He had the most striking blue eyes Liz had ever seen. Almost electric. Liz swallowed and searched her brain for something to say. She was meeting Kyp's best friend under very odd circumstances. Hope you feel better soon just didn't cut it. It felt wrong.

"Hi." She said quietly.

Nikk's eyes wandered back towards Kyp. "I can't believe it." He wheezed through split lips. "Late because of a woman." Then he grinned. "I've taught you well."

**

They stayed with Nikk a few minutes longer until the nurse kicked them out. Which suited Nikk well because according to him, this particular nurse had the greatest bust he'd ever seen and he loved it when she had to lean over him to fix the tube with the meds.

As they made their way to the speeder, Kyp held on to Liz's hand and gently ran his thumb along her knuckles. "I'm sorry you had to see all that."

Liz shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad it worked out for the best." She frowned a little. "Do you often get into things like this?"

Kyp lifted his lips into a smile. He could come clean, he thought. Tell her about being a Jedi. He looked into her chocolate brown eyes and took a deep breath. He wanted to tell her but…how would she react? If she turned away from him he'd be heartbroken. Because he really liked her. Force, she'd stood by his side throughout this whole thing with Nikk, even calmed him when he was about to get into the Doctor's face. And she didn't complain. She just took it as it was.

But would she calmly accept who he was? Would she calmly accept that he was a murderer?

"Nikk has a way with people." Kyp said slowly. "And I'm usually the one to get him out of the mess."

"You're a true friend, then."

_Maybe_, he thought sourly, _but not much of a good person…  
_  
As they approached her speeder, Liz surprised him by opening the passenger side door. "Impress me with your flying skills." She said and her smile tugged at something inside of him that he couldn't quite explain.

She was so magnificent. So beautiful.

_And you're lying to her…she deserves the truth.  
_  
"Prepare to be impressed." He said with a grin and got in behind the controls.

*

Eliziya showed him the way to her apartment building and he set the speeder down in her parking lot. A quick look at the time let her know that it was already past midnight and surprisingly, she wasn't even tired yet. If it had been up to her alone, she would have gone back out into the city on the arm of the most attractive man she'd met in a very long time.

She stepped out of the speeder and walked around it, hands tucked into the pockets of her pants. Knowing that it was time to say goodbye…it was bitter. She didn't want to call it a night because who knew if she was going to see this beautiful stranger again? "This has definitely been one of the most interesting days I've ever had."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Oh, yes. A very good thing."

She sucked in a quiet breath as Kyp touched her cheek with his fingers. He lifted her chin with his thumb, staring into her eyes. Again there was that feeling of time standing still, as if this was simply meant to be, the universe at work and there was nothing they could do about it. She'd never believed in fate, in destiny but what if it was meant to be?

What if meeting this man was what was supposed to happen? Maybe their futures were interlinked somehow, maybe there was a whole lot more in store for them than they could possibly imagine.

It was a wonderful thought to play with. Yet Liz reminded herself that this wasn't a holoflick. This was real life. Destiny and fate were things out of a fairy tale. Most likely, meeting Kyp was just a coincidence and there was nothing more to it.

She placed her hands on his chest and took a small step closer, all the while keeping their eyes locked. He lowered his head slowly but then he hesitated. She expected another kiss and by the stars she would have kissed him back in a way he would never forget. But the kiss that was meant to keep her up smiling all through the night never happened.

His lips touched her cheek, just inches above her lips. He lingered for a long moment, his breath warm on her skin. "I should go." Kyp whispered softly. He took a step back and smiled at her. "Would you let me call you tomorrow? I'd like to see you again."

Even though she was a bit disgruntled that he'd chosen not to kiss her, Eliziya smiled and nodded. She gave him her frequency, wondering if he would really call or not. And with a little wave she turned on her heel and headed towards the lift tube.

Sleeping was so totally out of the question.

*

_Forget about her. She deserves better than you.  
_  
Maybe that was true but Kyp couldn't forget her. Even if he turned away now and never returned, he would not forget her. It didn't make sense to him. He'd known her for half a day and yet it felt like years already.

Kyp took a deep breath and spun around on his heel. He stuffed his hands into his pockets while he walked. It wasn't too far to Coruscant Medical – he needed to have a little talk with Nikk.

Not only would Nikk answer some of his questions, a conversation with his best friend would get his mind off Liz for a little while.

About half an hour later he reached the main entrance to the medical center. Visiting hours were over so he used the Force to cloak his presence. He walked past the front desk, the young man behind it completely ignoring him. With a little sly smile, Kyp stepped onto a lift tube, keeping the Force cloak in place.

The medical center was eerily quiet. It felt like a scene out of a cheap horror flick, he thought as he got off the lift tube and headed straight down the corridor to Nikk's room. Any minute now the monster would jump out of the shadows and try to scare the lonesome man wandering the corridors at this ungodly hour…

Kyp opened Nikk's door and wasn't the least bit surprised to find the bed empty. Stepping into the room, Kyp heard the sound of water running in the fresher and a moment later, Nikk stepped out – completely naked.

"Oh Force, I've gone blind." Kyp muttered, turning his head to the side and rubbing his temple.

"Well, my dear friend." Nikk said slowly, his voice gruff. "You should know by now that you should always knock or otherwise make yourself known." From the corner of his eye, Kyp watched as Nikk got back under the covers, a sure sign that it was safe to look again.

Wasn't the first time Kyp had caught his friend in a situation involving a whole lot of skin. And undoubtedly it wouldn't be the last. He thought back to just the previous week when he'd walked into the quarters they shared and caught Nikk with a girl he'd picked up in a club.

"You're in the medical center and you're sleeping in the nude?"

"I always sleep naked, Kyp. I'm not about to make an exception here. And definitely not with the threads they have. I get all itchy." He nodded towards the hospital gown on the floor.

"You're a spoiled brat, Nikk."

"And I care because?"

Kyp took a quick look at his friends' wounds and raised his brows. He looked a lot better than just a few hours before. His eye was almost back to normal, the swelling in his face was all but gone and since the man could walk without much of a limp, Kyp supposed Nikk would be out of the medical center the next day. "Healing trance?"

"Kriff yeah. I'm not about to stay here a second longer than I have to."

"And you don't suppose the medical staff will raise a brow at your miraculous recovery?"

Nikk shrugged. "Don't care. If they did their homework, they already know who I am anyway. It shouldn't come as a surprise to them."

"They'll contact the Jedi."

Again that shrug. "Let them. I don't care."

Kyp sat down in a chair in the far corner, stretching his legs and crossing them at the ankles. He was exhausted and stifled a yawn behind his hand. "What happened?" He asked in a low, tired voice.

Nikk crossed his arms in front of his chest, muscles seemingly about to pop out of his skin. With his looks alone he could intimidate the majority of people; females were instantly attracted to him and males tended to stay out of his way. According to Nikk, his body was not only built to love but to fight as well.

"What does it look like?" Nikk snapped. "I got my ass kicked."

So much for the fighting…

"How?" Kyp asked with a frown.

Just like Kyp, Nikk was a Jedi Knight. For someone to sneak up on him…well, it was definitely a surprise.

"There was this girl –"

"Why am I not surprised?"

"It's not what you think!" Nikk raised his voice, blue eyes blazing. Kyp arched a single brow while he folded his hands over his stomach. "She was sixteen years old. Skinny and broken. Her clothes were shredded and she was bleeding."

"So you helped her."

"Tried to. Evidently, she was beaten for not doing what her kriffed up Master wanted from her."

Kyp frowned. "Master?"

"Kriffing son of a sith. He sells her to the highest bidder. They do what they want with her. I gave her a few credits and told her to run. She wouldn't accept, though. Too afraid of what he would do to her."

Slowly, Kyp took a deep breath. Nikk sure as hell had his faults but he was a decent guy, proved time and time again by his actions, as was obvious while he sat up in the medical bed with a bashed up face.

"You followed her?"

Nikk nodded. "Yeah. Found their headquarters. Trashed the damned place." He grimaced. "Two of them attacked. I felt a sharp pain in my neck and then everything's fuzzy. I remember calling you and that's it."

"I walked right in when the one eyed big guy nearly trampled you."

"Yeah." Nikk rubbed the back of his head. "Son of a sith. And I don't even know what happened to the girl." He paused. "I'm bringing them down one way or the other. And I don't give a crap what Skywalker or any other idiot has to say about it." He leaned back against fluffed up pillows and closed his eyes. "I wish this healing sithspit would go faster." He paused, then snapped his eyes open and sat up straight. "Holy hell. My speeder."

Kyp snorted. "This is so typically you. You almost get killed and you're worried about your ride?"

"I left it down below. Some parking garage."

"There won't be much of it left. If it's still there."

"Dammit." He closed his eyes again. "I'll just buy a new one. A fancy red thing. Chicks dig red."

Kyp smiled but said nothing. When they'd first met at the academy the two of them hadn't gotten along at all. A few fistfights later, they started tolerating each other and then one night out at a club their friendship started.

Although that club visit wasn't the fondest of Kyp's memories. Nikk had made sure Kyp kissed a girl that evening. His first kiss with a woman at least fifteen years his senior. It had been…interesting ; she'd tasted of smoke and ale. Not really the way he'd imagined his first kiss but he'd been mildly curious as to how it would feel.

His thoughts went back to Eliziya. The kiss with her had been…well, fantastic.

"Stop it." Nikk said suddenly.

"Stop what?"

"Being so flipping happy. It's bothering me."

Kyp snorted. "Moron."

"Idiot." He cleared his throat. "She's pretty. As far as I could tell through half an eye."

"She's beautiful, Nikk."

There was a slight pause. "Does she know you're a Jedi?" Because Nikk knew Kyp far too well and he knew Kyp would keep being a Jedi a secret as long as he could.

Leave it to Nikk to broach the uncomfortable subject. "No."

"Is she just a fling or something more?"

Kyp shrugged. "Not sure yet."

"Figure it out. Then tell her."

Easier said than done. 


	6. Chapter 6

When the door closed behind her, Eliziya broke out laughing. Sleeping was so out of the question. Of all the things to happen to her, meeting a guy had surely not crossed her mind. She'd woken up that morning thinking it would be a day like any other with loads of work to get done.

But then Kyp had happened.

She smiled and walked into her spacious living room, kicking off her shoes and throwing her jacket over the arm of her sofa. The lights switched on automatically, bathing the large room in warm beige light. Eliziya had moved into the apartment a year earlier and since then she'd decorated every open space she could find. There were paintings on one side of the wall, holographic pictures on the other. Vases with artificial flowers stood in two corners and between them she'd put up a shelf to show off all the little gifts she'd received from children she worked with at the med center.

Her home was more than a place where she laid her head to sleep. Her home was her safe haven, a place where she could turn her back on the world and tell the universe to go kriff itself.

Taking a deep and steadying breath, Eliziya wandered over to her com system and checked her messages. Sometimes the med center would call if there was an emergency with one of the cases so it had become habit to check her messages first thing when she came home.

There was one message waiting for her and a smile graced her features as she noted it was from her brother.

She sat down on the chair while dialing up her brothers' frequency. While she waited for the call to connect, she leaned back and went through the evening's events. Even though she seemed to be completely out of it on an emotional level, she had enough sense to clearly think about the last few hours. Her thoughts not only involved Kyp's handsome features or his strong hands or his tight butt or –

_Stop it already!  
_  
There was a part of her that immediately clicked with Kyp. He was so fun to be around and it felt like she'd known him all her life already. But another part of her, the part she cautiously called common sense, told her to tread carefully. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but something was…different about him.

He _felt_ different.

Eliziya rubbed her brow. Great way to describe a handsome man, huh?

She snorted.

But she had no other way to explain it. She'd met so many people in the course of her life and each person she sensed differently. But these discrepancies were minor. There would be a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach or the hairs on her arm would stand on end or there was a tingling at the nape of her neck. No matter who she met, she reacted to them on a level she could never really explain.

But with Kyp…there was nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

It had her worried in a way. Because throughout her life she'd never met anyone who she didn't physically react to.

The screen in front of her switched on and she smiled brightly when her brother gave her a little wave. "You're up late." He said.

Eliziya could tell that he was still working. He wore a grey business suit and his sandy brown hair was still combed back from his face – always working.

"I am." She cleared her throat and pursed her lips. It wouldn't be the smartest thing to tell her very protective brother that she'd met a handsome stranger, spent the day with him, saved his best friend, kissed this guy and had him bring her home. Yeah…she supposed Kyrian would try and jump through the line and smack her head. "I was up studying. You know how I get with forgetting the time and all."

Kyrian smirked. "Is that so?"

Eliziya waved his question away. Of course he didn't believe her. There was no way in hell she could lie to him. "Was there something you wanted, brother mine?"

He shrugged. "Just wanted to say hello. You busy tomorrow?"

"Nope. No plans so far." Although she sort of hoped that Kyp would call and they could do something together. The thought made her lift her lips into a tight little smile. Maybe they could go out to dinner. A real date without any danger lurking in the shadows. That would be nice.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

Eliziya sat up straight as she caught an odd note in her brothers' voice. "Smiling like what? Can't I just be in a good mood?"

Kyrian leaned closer to the screen, dark blue eyes twinkling. "What exactly were you doing tonight?"

Eliziya blew out a breath. "Just drop it, Kyrian. My life, remember?"

He'd always been protective of her. Ever since Sevastian had died, he'd watched her everywhere she'd gone, asking her questions, giving her orders. For your own good, he'd said. It had been quite the ordeal when she'd told him she was getting her own place.

Kyrian had made sure the place was rigged with the best of the best security could offer. No one was ever going to break into her home, that much was sure. And even though she was thankful for him being there for her, she hated the way he hovered, the way he tried to control everything.

"I'm just worried, that's all."

"There's no need to be worried."

Kyrian nodded once. "How about I come over tomorrow afternoon? We could…chat."

She tried not to grimace. Whatever he wanted to talk about couldn't be good. Kyrian never came over just to chat.

"Okay." She said slowly, narrowing her eyes. Leave it to her brother to completely ruin her wonderful mood. "What's this about, Kyrian?"

"We'll talk tomorrow."

"What if I want to talk now?" Eliziya said with a frown. Would he ever realize that she was a grown woman now? That she could actually lead her life without having to have him look over her like a damned hawk?

"Have you watched the news?" He asked.

"You know I don't follow the news. Too much war and crap going on. Now, if you'd want to talk about which celebrity is doing which celebrity, I'm all on board." She grinned at him.

"Thanks. I'll pass. I'm just bringing it up because Dad mentioned there might be a little commotion on planet soon."

"Why?" She asked with a raised brow.

"Five year anniversary since the destruction of Carida. Protestors, demonstrations, that sort of thing."

Eliziya rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? That's why you want to come over?"

Kyrian frowned.

"Let me guess." Eliziya continued. "You want to check if all security systems are online. You want to see where I'll be in the next few days and if my route to work is still the same just because Dad is worried about a few people demonstrating?"

"Some of these demonstrators don't much care for Dad. He's just worried someone might recognize you, that's all."

"And do what?" She nearly squealed. "Just because he hated the Empire, you think someone would take it out on me?"

"Liz –"

"Stars, I hate this! Can't you just finally understand that I am fully capable of living my own life? I don't need your protection and I sure as hell don't need Dad's."

"We're just worried, Liz." Kyrian ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "You've changed since Sevastian –"

"Don't you dare bring him into this!"

"I'm just saying that you've become reckless, that's all."

Eliziya narrowed her eyes, drumming her fingers on her desk. The all too familiar anger ran through her veins while she tried to calm herself.

Reckless, huh?

Son of a –

She wanted to tell him about Kyp, about Nikk, about kissing a stranger. She wanted to tell him just how much she had wanted Kyp to stay because around him she felt alive and free. She wanted to tell him just to rub it into his face how reckless she could truly be.

But she didn't. Because he'd storm into her apartment like the damned planet was on fire and she could surely do without the theatrics.

"It's late, Kyrian." She said instead. "I'll see you tomorrow." She went for the deactivation switch.

"I love you, little sister." Kyrian said before Eliziya cut the line.

*

She sat back and tried her best to forget what Kyrian had said. "I feel like a ten year old again." She whispered into the silence of her home, pushing out of the chair and heading into the fresher. On her way, she shrugged out of her shirt and threw it aside. She shimmied out of her pants and left them on the floor, too annoyed and irritated to even care for a minute that she was making a mess.

When she entered the fresher, she avoided the long mirror built into the wall. That damned mirror had been the one reason she'd almost decided against the apartment but Kyrian had been adamant. After all, he owned the damned building…

It had become a habit, not looking at her reflection when she was unclothed. The scar that ran along her side down to her hip still made her insides twist but getting it removed seemed wrong on so many levels.

Ignoring it, pretending it wasn't even there…it was easier. Sometimes she'd cover the mirror with a towel just so she wouldn't be tempted to take a look. Because the scar was a reminder. The scar was the last link she had to Sevastian.

Eliziya tried not to think about him as she turned on the water in the shower and stepped underneath the warm spray with a sigh on her lips.

Tonight, she wouldn't think about the bad things that had happened to her. Tonight, she would think about the good things.

She would think about Kyp. 


	7. Chapter 7

Standing atop a bridge that overlooked the lower levels, Kyp tilted his head upward and stared into the night sky. He opened himself to the Force, breathing in deeply as the energy coursed through his veins and sharpened his senses. An onslaught of voices crashed into him, some louder than others, some just whispered fragments upon the waves of emotions. Remorse. Joy. Sadness. Disappointment. Love. Feelings he felt that weren't his. He closed the valve of his empathetic abilities and took a deep, steadying breath.

Sometimes he thought he would never get used to feeling what others felt. Sometimes he even thought he would lose himself in the currents of their emotions. If it hadn't been for Master Skywalkers' careful training, his ability would have eaten him up by now.

The silence in his mind was blissful. He looked back up into the sky, squinting slightly while trying to glimpse the stars in between queues of speeders and other flying vehicles. Since his escape from Kessel, stars had become a symbol of freedom. It was one of many reasons he preferred Yavin 4 as a home rather than Coruscant. The planet was too packed, too busy, too everything.

And stars were all but impossible to see.

Kyp sighed and leaned against the banister, one arm draped over the other. A soft wind wound between tall spires of the inner city, ruffling his hair. He'd been on his way back to his quarters when he stopped to think. He was worried about Nikk. It wasn't just his injuries but the fact that Nikk wouldn't rest until he knew for certain that he'd destroyed the slave ring he'd stumbled upon. Too proud for his own good, Kyp was certain Nikk would never ask for help and even if Kyp simply came along for the ride, Nikk would find a way to ditch him.

He always did. Unless, of course, he was about to get himself killed.

Go, Nikk.

Kyp rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming on.

And then his thoughts wandered to Eliziya. He'd never met anyone quite like her before. She was fun to be around, she made him laugh with her snarky remarks and he was pretty sure, would he ever find himself in an argument with her, he might actually lose.

He was amazed by her.

She'd stood by his side throughout this whole mess with Nikk and she hadn't complained, not once. He wondered if she was used to this sort of action. What was her life like? What did she like to do in her spare time? What was her favorite color? Her favorite food? Her favorite music?

He wanted to know everything about her.

So many questions, so little time for all the answers.

He was only on Coruscant for the next two weeks and then it was back to going on missions and who knew when he'd return?

So he'd have to make the time count that he had with her.

Two weeks with a wonderful and beautiful lady – what else could he possibly ask for? And maybe it would just be a little adventure for the both of them, nothing serious, just a fling like the ones Nikk kept having. If that were the case, he wouldn't have to mention the Jedi.

He took a quick look at the timepiece around his wrist and took a deep breath. It was late but he wasn't tired in the least.

Kyp pushed away from the banister and began to walk with no destination in mind. His quarters weren't too far away but with Nikk in the med center the place didn't really feel all that comfortable. He didn't want to return to his empty temporary home.

What he really wanted to do was call Eliziya. Just to hear her voice again.

He took his comlink out of his pocket and thumbed it on. She might not appreciate the call at this hour but he wanted to risk it anyway. And how odd was that? There was this strange feeling in his chest, constricting and powerful, compelling him to tap in her frequency and wait for her to answer.

If she didn't, he'd find something else to do with his time. Stars new, Coruscant was big enough.

After about half a minute he was beginning to give up hope that she would answer. She'd probably fallen asleep already and he caught himself wondering if she was having sweet dreams, preferably involving him.

He chuckled but when he suddenly heard her muffled voice on the other end, he quieted down instantly.

"Is someone dead?"

Kyp blinked. "Uh…undoubtedly someone's died but no one I know."

"Is someone hurt?"

"Should I repeat that last bit?"

She laughed softly. "Do you often call people in the middle of the night just because you're bored?"

His brows lifted. "What makes you think I'm bored?"

"Call it a hunch."

Kyp couldn't keep the smile off his face. How was it possible that just by hearing her voice his mood had lifted exponentially?

"Did I wake you?" He asked, slowly walking on. He ignored passers-by, he ignored the sounds around him, he ignored everything. It was her voice that was most important.

"No." There was a slight pause. "I can't sleep."

"Seems like we have something in common there." He heard the rustling of sheets and imagined she lay in bed, cuddled underneath thick blankets with her head on a pillow.  
"Indeed. So why not make the best of it and instead of talking over a com link, we meet up and have a caf together?"

"You realize it's the middle of the night and the only establishments still open are those that sell booze and sex."

Again that chuckle. "Then I guess you should just come visit me. I'll even dig out the caf machine just for you."

"Sounds like a plan."

*

When Liz laid her comlink aside, she jumped out of bed, about to panic. What the hell had she been thinking inviting Kyp over at this time? She switched on the lamp on her nightstand, turned around towards her closet and stubbed her toe on the dresser beneath her window.

She began cursing like crazy, balling her hands into fists as she let the pain wash through her. Her pinky toe. Again.

"Someone really doesn't like you, pinky toe." Liz muttered as she hobbled to the closet and opened the doors. She wasn't about to entertain a guest in yellow dotted pajamas.

Grimacing at her throbbing little toe, she pulled out a pair of tight fitting black running pants and a simple sleeveless blue shirt that fit her snuggly and in all the right places. Although she would have preferred the pajamas; they were so much more comfortable.

She headed into the kitchen, pulled a little stool out from underneath the counter and slowly climbed on top. Having lost count how many times she'd fallen off the damned thing, she slowly opened the cupboard and gripped the door tightly. The caf machine stood all the way in the back. She had no idea how old it was or if the thing still even worked.

There was some caf left over in a tall metallic cylinder from last time her brother had stayed over. She grabbed it and popped open the lid. It still looked like caf; black crumbs with a few powdery grains. No mildew. And it still smelled like caf, too.

"If it looks like caf and if it smells like caf, it's caf."

At least she hoped so. She didn't really want to poison Kyp. Maybe she could convince him to drink a cup of tea instead. It was beyond her why anyone would voluntarily want to drink caf anyway. It tasted bitter and dark and even if she put in ten spoons of sugar, it would still not be sweet enough.

Liz carried the caf machine to the counter and hooked it up. And that's as far as she got because she had no clue whatsoever how to work the damned thing. She only kept it for the few occasions her brother came to visit.

She wandered back into the living room just when the door chime sounded. Willing her heartbeat into a halfway normal pace, she put a smile on and touched her fingers to the control panel.

Her smile turned into a flat out grin because Kyp had brought her a single red rose. "I felt bad bothering you this early in the morning. I didn't want to come over empty handed."

"So you brought me a rose." Liz said, stepping aside to let him in. "That's very sweet of you, Kyp."

He handed her the flower and chuckled. "You know, I've been called arrogant, irritating and annoying. And there are a few other choice words that I won't repeat right now but I'm pretty sure that no one's ever called me sweet before."

"Shame." Liz said, taking a step closer and kissing his cheek. "Because you are sweet."  
She felt his eyes on her as she turned and went back to the kitchen. He followed her, his footsteps muffled on the carpet. Eliziya raised the rose to her nose and breathed in the sweet scent. Flitterflies ran rampant in her stomach while she searched for a vase or a tall glass.

"Wow."

Liz turned Kyp's way with a questioning look. "Wow?"

"That caf machine looks like something out of the pre Clone Wars era. Does it still work?"

She chuckled, placing her hands on her hips. "You are unbelievable, Kyp. Is there anything in existence that you don't nag about?"

His grin nearly knocked her off her feet while she closed the cupboard after grabbing a tall glass as a makeshift vase. "I doubt it. But it's what makes me special."

"Special meaning you have a big mouth and you don't think before you speak?"

"Ugh." He said with raised brows but his lips still lifted into a smile. "You wound me, my lady."

Eliziya turned back to the rose and gently ran her fingers across the petals. What a thoughtful thing for him to do. No one had ever gotten her flowers before. This simple act of kindness warmed her heart so much, she was sure she would never forget it. "Thank you again for the rose." She said softly, before turning around.

Kyp was leaning against the counter opposite her, arms casually crossed over his chest. He was definitely an image worth saving. Unruly dark hair was a mess around his head and he hadn't shaved in a while but his appearance gave him a sort of rugged handsomeness that she truly liked. It was difficult not to openly stare at him.

"A beautiful rose for a beautiful woman." He said, his voice dark.

She cleared her throat, hoping her blush wasn't too evident. "You're very welcome to try and activate the pre Clone Wars era caf machine."

His laugh was deep and almost a little sinister. His green eyes twinkled in a way that made her stomach flip. She turned her head to the side, searching her brain for something to say, something to get her mind off of his good looks and the brash attitude he had going on.

Kyp came forward and eyed the caf machine with raised brows. It took him about half a minute to make the damned thing work which irked Liz just a tiny little bit. "So unfair." She muttered to herself.

"What? That I'm a professional at figuring things out?" He grinned at her and for a moment it felt like the entire universe was spinning on its axis. "Nikk would say it's a guy thing."

She raised a brow. "Being an ass?"

He laughed. "Weren't you just the one saying something about thinking before speaking?"  
"Sure. But I wasn't referring to myself." Before he could comment, she changed the subject. "So anyway, I have cookies to go with the caf, if you're interested."

Their eyes met over the short distance and a shiver passed through her. Such lovely eyes, like a forest in spring. "I have to warn you, though." He said.

"About?"

"I'm addicted to cookies."

Eliziya laughed before pushing away from the counter and climbing back onto the stool, reaching for the upper cupboard.

*

He had difficulty keeping his eyes on the caf machine. It was like his body was no longer listening to commands from his brain because when Liz climbed atop the stool wearing those tight black pants, he couldn't help himself. He took in her shapely legs and the curve of her butt; he liked the way her shirt rode up just a tiny little bit because he could just glimpse the tanned skin underneath.

Taking a deep breath, Kyp turned away. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to see her this late after all. Sure as hell his brain wasn't where it was supposed to be…in its usual spot up in his think box. And his blood was rushing into places that sure as kriff had no business being active right now.

_Dammit_, he thought with a deep breath, rubbing his temples. So much for being a gentleman.

There was a sudden spark of surprise in the Force. It took him a fraction of a second to realize that Liz had slipped off the stool. From the corner of his eye he saw her falling backward and in a moments' notice, he was right behind her. He caught her with open arms.

And he didn't want to let her go.

Silence stretched between them as he held her. He tightened his grip around her waist just a bit and found himself dipping his head to breathe in her scent.

Musky…sweet…sexy…

Opening himself to the Force, he scanned her emotional state. She was surprised and invigorated, anxiously awaiting what would happen next. Kyp closed his eyes, loosening his grip around her. Slowly his hands ran along her sides until he gently settled them on her hips. He brushed his lips beneath her ear, lingering for a long moment while he simply breathed. She inhaled sharply and wasn't that just an amazing sound? He wanted to hear it again and again; he ran a trail of little kisses along her neck to her shoulder. He watched her close her eyes and bite her lower lip. Gods, she was indescribably sexy this way.

His fingers slipped underneath her shirt at her hips, gently caressing warm, soft skin.  
She turned her head his way, lips slightly parted. The urge to kiss her was all but irresistible. He gripped her hips a little tighter and pulled her closer, dipping his head lower. Closing his eyes, he let his hands wander just a bit higher along her sides –

The moment broke like glass shattering into a hundred pieces.

Her felt a scar on her impeccable skin, a thick and long scar that ran upwards. How far did it go, he wondered. But above all, he wondered how the hell she'd gotten it.

She cleared her throat, her cheeks colored with a blush as she stepped away and out of his hold. Clearly, she was embarrassed. Embarrassed by getting so close to him or because he'd found her scar, he couldn't say. Either way, she had no need to be.

"I'm sorry." Kyp said, his voice dark and gruff.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." Eliziya answered, picking up the bag of cookies that had fallen from the cupboard and placing it on the counter. "Would you get the caf running? There're cups and mugs on the shelf." She went to pass him but stopped placing one hand on his shoulder. "Hot chocolate for me, please." She said, getting on her toes to kiss his cheek. "Next to the cups."

Kyp watched her go, his thoughts revolving only around that scar.

Who'd hurt her, he wondered with narrowed eyes as he watched her hurry out of the kitchen. Was the bastard still alive who'd done this to her?

Utterly surprised by this sudden streak of protectiveness, he took a deep breath. He wanted to know.

And once he knew, he'd figure out what to do about it. 


	8. Chapter 8

Eliziya ran her hands across her face, taking a few deep breaths as she sat down on the sofa. She heard Kyp in the kitchen and took the time she needed to calm herself. First thing she planned for the next day was to get rid of that damned stool. She'd lost count how many times she'd fallen off the stupid thing and how embarrassing for it to happen while Kyp was there.

Stars…

He'd held her tightly, saved her from bruising her bottom yet again. His touch had been firm yet soft and warm. And the kisses along her neck had _obviously_ robbed her of her senses.

_Sure Mister Stranger, come touch me in places I'd forgotten even existed!_

Eliziya looked up when Kyp walked into the living area with two warm cups in both his hands. He placed them on the caf table, the sweet scent of hot chocolate mingling with that of strong caf. It was a wonderful aroma, one she could get used to. Kyp took a seat beside her, green eyes searching her face. There were so many questions in that look alone. And she wasn't stupid – he wanted to know about the scar.

Surprisingly, she wanted to tell him. After all these years, she wanted to confess to someone what she'd done. Or rather what she hadn't done. No one knew the whole truth and here she was debating whether or not to tell a complete stranger.

Wasn't trust just the damndest thing? How the hell could you trust someone you didn't know?

"Thank you." She whispered softly, holding her mug with both hands.  
"Are you alright?"

She gave him a curt nod, smiled a little, hoping it seemed reassuring. He raised an eyebrow so the reassuring thing obviously wasn't working. Her hands felt clammy suddenly, a nervous sweat breaking out all over her skin. Ten more minutes of this and she knew the tears would come next.

"I'm okay." She whispered softly. "As okay as I'll ever be I suppose. You surprised me back there."

"I'm sorry."

"Someone once said that apologizing is a sign of weakness."

One side of his lip lifted up into a small smile. "Are you saying I'm weak?" He lifted his eyebrows and pursed his lips. "You have a knack for insulting me."

"Do not." She whispered with a laugh, getting a bit more comfortable by leaning her shoulder against his.

*

When she laid her head on his shoulder, Kyp relaxed. He liked how she was so carefree around him. There was no awkwardness that usually came with meeting someone for the first time. With Liz it all came so natural.

As silence stretched between them, he looked around her living room and wasn't the least bit surprised at all the colors and decorations. She seemed like a colorful person, a lively and happy person. Her walls were a bright yellow, the furniture mostly blue and green. Ribbons of red ran upwards to the ceiling where she'd painted flowers. There were pictures on the wall opposite him, holograms and old, faded images printed out on thin flimsy.

He got up, walking around the caf table to take a better look. He took a deep breath and with his back to Eliziya he closed his eyes. The way she'd felt in his arms had been fantastic. He wanted to go back to that moment, to hold her close and breathe in her intoxicating scent. Who knew where that moment might have led them had he not felt that scar?

What had happened to her, he wondered silently. He hated knowing that someone had hurt her. For that matter, he hated _not_ knowing what had happened to her in the first place. And he surprised the kriff out of himself when he noted how angry he got just by imagining someone threatening her.

He pulled himself together by taking a breath, looking up to the images on the walls. Family photos, he presumed. He smiled while taking a closer look at a picture in which Liz couldn't have been older than ten. She was wearing pig tails and a blue dotted white dress. Very cute.

There was a group photo with her parents and two brothers. "Is this the happy fam?" Kyp asked quietly. He heard as Eliziya slid off the sofa, her soft footsteps on the carpet. She gave off a derisive snort which made Kyp raise his brows.

"Happy? Not so much. But yeah, my family."

Kyp looked from Eliziya back to the picture with her brothers. "You don't look much alike." He paused. "At all."

"Well, Kyrian looks like my Dad when he was younger. And Sevastian took after my mother." She lowered her voice a little. Kyp detected profound sadness through the Force, pain that she kept bottled up inside. "Sevastian used to say that I'm an anomaly.

Both he and Kyrian are rather light; sandy brown hair, blue eyes. But me? All dark. It was never really an issue while growing up. But you know what?" She smiled and the lift of her lips nearly took his breath away. "As horrible as this might sound, all my life I sort of hoped I was adopted."

"That bad, huh?"

"Overprotective brother, overprotective dad whenever it suits him, evil and belligerent mother…" Her voice trailed off and a frown appeared on her forehead. "And Sevastian." She whispered softly. "I…um…my family isn't the best family you could hope for, let's put it that way."

"Most family's aren't." Kyp turned towards her, hands stuffed into his pockets. He wanted to hold her. Not because his body yearned for her but because she was sad. The smile on her face was forced, for his sake alone. But he could map out her emotional state in one go. She was beyond sad. She was devastated.

Kyp pulled her into a warm hug and a sigh left his lips as she laid her head against his chest. He ran his hands along her back when she encircled his waist with her arms. It was a perfect match, he thought. She fit snuggly into his embrace and it felt right. It felt so…_right_.

He kissed the top of her head, questions burning on his tongue. Why was she sad? Where had the scar come from? Was it his place to even ask?

He paused.

To hell with it.

"Eliziya."

She took a little step back and met his searching gaze with that sad smile again. "You want to know about the scar, right?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious."

Eliziya shrugged and turned away from him, wrapping her arms around herself. "It was an accident, a few years ago." She said softly. "I made it out alive. It's not a big deal."  
The hell it wasn't. Because if it wasn't a big deal, she wouldn't have been lying to him. Kyp caught lies the moment they left someone's mouth. It was like a dark scent that permeated the air around the person, black tendrils of energy snaking outward.

He hated lies. He hated being lied to.

Normally, he would have pressed the matter. With anyone else, he would have prodded as long as he had to, to get the answers he wanted. But he knew he would just make matters worse with Eliziya. He had no right to ask for the truth. Maybe – just maybe – she would open up to him.

Someday.

Kyp almost snorted.

Here he was hoping for honesty from Liz when he was doing the exact same thing. Not telling her about the Jedi, not telling her about Carida.

_Way to go you flippin' idiot…_

Kyp turned back to the holograms and photographs on the wall.

Eliziya's oldest brother, Kyrian, looked vaguely familiar. The more images he saw, the more Kyp knew that he'd seen the man before. But for the life of him, he couldn't remember where.

"So, what's your family like?" Eliziya asked quietly.

"Dead."

Kyp winced. Someday he really needed to fix the filter that was supposed to be working between his brain and his mouth. "They…um…died after the Empire attacked my home."  
"I'm sorry."

He forced a little smile. "Don't be. It was a long time ago." Kyp went back to staring at the image of Kyrian grinning into the camera. Kyp _knew_ him. He was sure of it. Where the hell had he seen him before?

"What does your brother do for a living?"

"He's a business man." Eliziya answered, turning on her heel and taking a seat on the sofa. "He's into all sorts of things. If you want specifics, you're going to have to ask him."

Yeah. So not gonna happen.

Sure, the man looked familiar but there was a nagging sense in the back of Kyp's mind that this familiarity wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Kyp turned back to the sofa, hoping his expression was calm. He sat down next to Eliziya and smiled for her. "You look tired." He said softly.

"If that's a cue for me to kick you out, it's not going to work."

"I wasn't –"

"Because I don't want you to go."

She came closer, grabbed his arm and laid her head against his shoulder. Smiling like a kid on lifeday, he kissed her hair again and pulled her closer. "You're amazing, Eliziya."

*

She'd wanted to tell him. She'd wanted to tell him everything, every little detail. It would have been the first time she'd opened up about Sevastian but…she couldn't do it.

Words had failed her when images of her little brother ran through her mind. His smile, his laugh…all that was gone. The sadness had almost choked her and it had taken a whole lot of self control not to break down and cry in front of Kyp.

She would carry her secret around a while longer.

Who knew? Maybe it was best if no one ever found out the entire truth in the long run.

Her mother already blamed her for everything anyway. She was too stubborn to be swayed from her opinion that her only daughter had let her favorite son die. Her mother blamed Eliziya for Sevastian's death. Made for absolutely fantastic family get-togethers.

Kill anyone this year, daughter? Oh no wait, you said it was an accident, right? Too bad you're a liar.

Groaning, Eliziya squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She needed to get her act together, especially as long as Kyp was there.

"Feel like watching a silly movie?" She asked after a while.

"Spare me the chick flicks, please."

She sat up with a smile. "So you're one of _those _guys…"

Kyp's brows shot up. "Pardon?"

Almost wickedly her smile turned into a grin. Reaching towards the caf table, she took the remote unit and switched on the entertainment system. The lights dimmed and she moved closer to Kyp. She took his hand into his and found herself relaxing in his warm embrace. And he smelled so _good_, she thought as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Fresh, manly…perfect.

"You know, one of those guys who watch movies without much of a story or plot line."  
Kyp chuckled. "They're fun to watch."

"So are chick flicks."

"Not so much."

"What if it's a movie with a lot of action and the lovey dovey stuff?"

She raised her eyes to meet his. His lips were so close to hers. Full lips slightly parted. Before she knew what she was doing, she pulled him closer and kissed him. His deep, dark groan went through her skin as he kissed her in return. Slow and lazy.

Passionately.

Eliziya licked her lips when she pulled back. There weren't very many times that she was speechless but this was definitely one of them.

"If I get bored, do I get to kiss you again?"

She laughed. "Sure."

He grinned at her. "Then on with the chick flick."


	9. Chapter 9

Kyp blinked his eyes open as he felt something moving along his leg. Or was it slithering? He stared up to a colorful ceiling, brows pulled into a deep frown. What the hell was that?

His mind conjured up pictures of black furry spiders having found their way into his pants. It wasn't a very nice image, suffice it to say.

Then he heard the soft melodic sound of his comlink still stuck in his pocket. It started vibrating after a while. So much for furry spiders.

Groaning, Kyp tried reaching for his pocket but stopped with his arm halfway to the offending com link. If he moved, Liz would fall.

They'd fallen asleep on the sofa and she'd made herself quite comfortable cuddled up on top of him.

Now _this_ he could totally get used to.

But getting to his comlink was turning out to be a problem. It was halfway wedged between his butt and the sofa cushions and if he turned too far, Liz would find herself sprawled on the floor. He didn't want to wake her either. She just looked too adorable sleeping on his chest with her mouth open and…yeah, she was drooling on his shirt.

Taking a breath, Kyp pushed himself up on one elbow while balancing Liz's weight with his legs. With his free hand, he tried going for his com link. Would have been too easy, wouldn't it? It was still wedged beneath his ass.

Liz stirred, took a deep satisfied breath and turned her head the other way. There was a drool stain in the center of his chest. Quietly, he laughed.

The com link grew still and Kyp hoped it would stay that way. But half a minute later, the com link went off again.

Sighing, Kyp tried to sit up. He tugged at his pants like a madman, lifting his bottom up off the sofa to get to his pockets. It would have worked wonderfully had he accounted for Liz moving at the same moment he decided to lift his butt. Before he could catch her, she rolled off him and crashed to the floor.

"Oh, crap." He whispered when Liz blinker her eyes rapidly. "You okay?"

Eliziya frowned, confusion written all over her face. She turned her head his way, eyes locked on the drool stain on his shirt. A crimson blush colored her cheeks while she wiped the side of her mouth. "How embarrassing." She muttered.

"Which part?" Kyp said with a sly grin. "Falling off the sofa or slobbering all over me?"  
Eliziya lay back on the floor and started to laugh. It was the loveliest sound. Even when she laughed so hard she snorted, he thought it was endearing. And infectious because he caught himself laughing with her.

"Sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." She said a moment later. "But I'm going to smash your com link into little pieces if you don't answer the damned thing."

In one fluid movement, Liz got to her feet and stretched. And wasn't that just one hell of a sight. Her shirt rode up and he got to see a whole lot of tan skin underneath. Kyp sat up and rearranged his pants as his eyes wandered along her naval and up to the curve of her breasts.

By the Force, she was beautiful.

"Like what you see?"

Dammit.

Caught red handed.

Kyp cleared his throat and rubbed his neck. "Kriff yeah, I like what I see." He muttered, finally digging out his comlink. He watched Eliziya head to the fresher and he could have sworn she swayed her hips intentionally just to catch his attention again.

She was doing one hell of a good job.

When the door closed behind her, Kyp answered the com link in a rough voice. "This had better be important."

"Still not much of a morning person?"

Kyp leaned back against the sofa. "Good morning to you too, Han."

"Grumpy."

"Maybe a little." Kyp conceded, closing his eyes and wishing he could go back to the moment Liz had stood stretching in front of him. "What's up?"

"Busy this afternoon?"

"You asking me out on a date?"

"Sorry, sweetheart. You're not my type."

"Too bad. I bet I could make it worth your while."

"You sure about that? I'm picky when I'm out on a date. And I like expensive stuff. Will you bring me one of those twinkly little bracelets? They bring out my eyes."

"Not sure if the bracelet would fit that tiny black gown you like so much."

Han grunted. "Yeah. Plus, I think my wife – you know, the lightsaber wielding Princess? – wouldn't like me going out on a date with a strange man."

Kyp laughed quietly and ran a hand through his messy hair. Leia and Kyp were like water and oil. They did not get along and he doubted they ever would. "So what's this about?"

"Official."

Kyp narrowed his eyes. "You're kidding."

"Sorry, kid."

"I just got here, Han!"

"Luke needs –"

"I don't care." Kyp ground out between clenched teeth. He softened his voice when Liz returned from the fresher. She shot him a sweet, gut wrenching smile and a wink before she disappeared into her bedroom. "Believe it or not, I actually have a kriffing life outside the Order." He hissed.

Han sighed on the other end. "How about you just listen to what he has to say?"  
"Why isn't he asking me himself?"

There was a short pause. "Because he knows you'd tell him off and undoubtedly use a few pointed choice words to do so."

"Sneaky bastard."

"He gets it from me."

Kyp rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Fine."

"We'll be at my place for the rest of the day. You can stay a while and we can catch up."  
"Yeah. See you later, Han." He cut the line and held back the urge to throw the com link halfway across the room and watch it shatter into hundreds of pieces.

*

They talked about everything and anything while sitting at the dining table holding their mugs in their hands. There was a bowl between them with a few left over cookie crumbs. It was all the breakfast Liz could offer she'd realized belatedly.

No more food in the house.

Eliziya had forgotten the last time she'd had such a good time just talking with someone. Kyp had the uncanny ability to make her laugh. It could just be a gesture or a silly look or a comment to make her blush – it was just so much fun being around him.  
When the time came for him to go, Eliziya tried to keep her nervousness as invisible as possible. Plainly put, she didn't want him to leave.

Standing outside of her apartment, she tucked her hands into the pockets of her pants. She swayed back and forth on her heels. Yeah, so much for not showing how nervous she was.

She leaned against the wall as Kyp towered above her. His green gaze was so fierce, so intense, as if he were looking straight through her. She couldn't help but wonder what he saw. Just Liz with messy hair and comfortable clothes or something else? Something more?

Kyp lifted her chin with his thumb and forefinger. He kissed her, nipped at her lips, teased her with his tongue. Her breath caught in her throat as he played with her, making her want to drag him back inside and continue uninterrupted.

It was over far too soon.

"Tonight." Kyp whispered hoarsely, lowering his gaze to meet hers. "I want to see you tonight."

Oh, hell yeah.

"I'll be here."

Waiting like a love struck teenager.

He kissed her again, leaning into her while bracing one hand against the wall next to her head. For a moment there, he seemed so powerful in a way she couldn't even put into words. His entire being was so large, so all encompassing…

Kyp stepped back and raised one eyebrow suggestively. Eliziya laughed and playfully slapped his chest. "I'll see you tonight, Kyp."

He nodded. "Tonight."

She watched him walk down the corridor with a flutter in her stomach.

*

Kyp headed back to his temp quarters. He took a quick shower and changed into more fitting clothes for his meeting with Master Skywalker. He ignored the neatly folded Jedi robes on a chair in the corner of his room, though. He was officially still on vacation so the robes would stay put.

He slipped into a dark green tunic, then loosely fastened a low slung belt around his hip. He clipped his lightsaber onto the left side.

Standing in front of the mirror he took a long look at his reflection. He looked so damned average when in reality he was anything but. What would Liz say if she knew he was a Jedi?

Not much, he thought with a tight smile. But he was pretty sure she would have a lot to say about him blowing up a planet, though.

Slick move there.

Sighing, Kyp turned away and went for a thick, dark brown cloak when he heard the front door swish open.

With an eyebrow raised, he stepped into the living room and did not hide his surprise as Nikk stumbled in. He looked much better than the night before albeit tired and exhausted. "What are you doing here?"

Nikk snorted. "Maybe the fact that I actually _live_ here has something to do with it."

"They let you go?" Kyp asked, draping the cloak over one arm.

Nikk dropped into a padded chair with a huff. He stretched his legs, groaning like an eighty year old and closed his eyes. "I had to use my manly charm and prowess to convince the nurses I was okay."

"Did it work?"

"Nope. I threatened the Doc I'd knock him unconscious and make him think he was a nerf for at least two days. He believed me. It was pretty funny. Hurt to laugh, though."

Smiling, Kyp swung the cloak around his shoulders and fastened it with a silver pin, earning a raised brow from his friend. "Official business, huh?" Nikk said, gesturing to the lightsaber.

"Yes. Master Skywalker asked Han to ask me for a meeting."

"Sneaky."

"Wanna come?"

Nikk shot him an offended glare. "Hell kriffing no. I'm in no mood to deal with Skywalker's froggy face right now."

"_Nikk_." A warning tone.

"It's true. He looks like a frog when he looks at you with those big blue eyes. He has this way of twisting his mouth…I don't know…he's the frogman."

"Real mature."

"Bite me."

Rolling his eyes, Kyp made sure he had a few spare cred coins in his pockets. He gave Nikk a little wave. "Don't do anything stupid."

"I'm half dead, Kyp."

"I know."

He was almost out the door when Nikk called back. "Bring me some food when you get back!"  
Chuckling, Kyp shook his head. "Don't know when I'll be back."

Nikk smiled. "Going to see Liz?"

"Yep."

"Good for you." He sighed. "I'll just stay here and starve to death while you're out getting some nookie. I swear, life is so unfair. I risk my butt to save the galaxy, to save damsels in distress and for what? I don't even get fed. It sucks to be me."

Kyp turned around sharply, his cloak billowing behind him. Using the Force, he grabbed a pillow from the sofa and flung it into his friends' face. With a satisfied smirk and a surprised yelp from Nikk, Kyp strolled out of their quarters.

*

It was like a family get together and Kyp was the guy that didn't belong, the odd one out. After greeting Han with a big smile and a tight hug, he followed Han into his home and settled his eyes on Master Skywalker, who comfortably sat at the dining table with Mara Jade hovering behind him. She glared at Kyp when he entered, her mouth stretched into a thin line while her green eyes blazed with anger.

She didn't like Kyp and he didn't like her.

Simple.

Leia Organa Solo sat next to her brother, small and delicate hands folded on the table. She wore an elegant dark blue gown made out of some expensive looking shimmery material. Her hair was twisted up onto the top of her head, accented with a few glittery gems. She looked lovely, Kyp thought, smiling slightly.

He'd always hoped to get along with Han Solo's wife but she mostly avoided him. And when they did speak to one another, their words were short and snappy without any warmth whatsoever. He knew the reason why, of course. In Leia's world, whoever stepped over to the side of dark and evil would never completely return. Even if Kyp proved himself time and time again, it would most likely not sway her opinion about him.

So naturally, he didn't feel rather welcomed.

"Kyp." Master Skywalker said, sliding back from the dining table and getting to his feet with a little nod. "I'm glad you could make it."

Kyp arched a brow. Master Skywalker made it sound like Kyp was there voluntarily. He cleared his throat. "Sure. Not like I have anything better to do." He forced a smile and pulled out a chair opposite the Jedi Master.

"A situation's come up and –"

"And you need my help. I get that part." He flared out his cloak and sat down, leaning back against the chair with a questioning look behind his green gaze. "I'm not in the mood for casual chit chat and I'm sure neither are you." He shot Leia and Mara a pointed glance. "So why don't we do us all a favor and get right to the point?"

"You in a hurry to be somewhere?" Han asked with a grin. He stood leaning against the opposite wall, thoughtfully rubbing his chin.

"Actually, yes."

Mara Jade frowned. "What could be more important than a mission?"

"Hm." Kyp said. "Let me think…uh…how about…none of your damned business?"

From the corner of his eye, Kyp caught Han smirking.

Master Skywalker cleared his throat. "Alright." He said slowly, eyeing each of the occupants in turn, although his gaze lingered on Mara Jade. Was it a silent plea for her to keep her cool? Because to Kyp it looked like she was about to lunge over the table and strangle him.

"It's a simple search and rescue mission." Master Skywalker said, sliding over a data pad. Kyp took it quickly and scanned the contents while the Jedi Master continued. "A young man, a political refugee, was captured by a band of mercenaries a few days ago. They're asking for ransom but we're not agreeing to their terms. It's adamant that he be rescued and returned to his family."

"It's a political thing, then?"

"Yes. It's important he be brought back alive. He carries valuable information. It's a rather delicate matter." Leia said, eyeing Kyp carefully. Oh, like Kyp couldn't handle delicate?

He snorted. "If it's so delicate, why are you asking for my help?"

"Because you're the best we've got." Han said with a proud smile.

Kyp wasn't in the mood to return the warm gesture, though. "No, actually Master Skywalker is the best you've got. Why are you asking me?"

"I'm needed here, Kyp. And we need a straightforward person for this mission." Master Skywalker began. "Someone who can see straight through lies and deceit."

"Ah." Kyp said. "You need me because I don't take anyone's sithspit and I could care less about rules and regulations. Whereas you, Master Skywalker, are bound because you're a public figure. I mean, sure, why not send me out there to do the dirty work, my reputation has gone straight to hell anyway, right? I have nothing to worry about."

"That's not what I meant."

Kyp waved the remark away. "Is this all the information you have?"

"Yes."

"When do I leave?"

"In two days." Leia answered, brown eyes leveled on his face with something akin to sadness. Or remorse maybe?

Having second thoughts, are you dear?

"Our contact will be waiting for you at the coordinates designated on the pad."

Kyp stood and tucked the data pad into his pocket. "I suppose we're done?" He asked with raised brows.

Mara Jade snorted and Leia looked away. They didn't trust him. They'd never trusted him, not after Exar Kun and certainly not after Carida.

"Thank you, Kyp." Master Skywalker said with a slight nod. "I appreciate your help in all this."

Kyp bit his tongue. Help? Yeah right. You didn't say no to the Jedi Master. Period.  
Han followed Kyp towards the door. He felt Han's heavy hand on his shoulder a moment later and almost reluctantly, Kyp turned around.

"What was that all about?" Han asked with raised brows.

Where to begin?

"Look Han, I am beyond thankful for everything you guys have done for me. But I've been on missions for the Jedi since being Knighted. I haven't had any time to actually think through what I've been doing and now I'm being sent away yet again. I'd really like to live for a little while before another disaster comes my way and ends my glorious life prematurely."

"Come on, kid. This'll be easy for you. You go in, you come out and you'll be fine."  
Kyp grimaced. "Yeah. Guess so."

But nothing was ever easy when it came to Kyp Durron.


	10. Chapter 10

Later that evening, Eliziya sat at her desk and shoved a stack of flimsies aside while rubbing her eyes. She'd lost track of time but it was already dark outside, colorful lights from advertising rings cascading through the large window behind her.

She turned her chair around and stretched her legs, taking a deep breath as she stared into the outside world. The current case she was working on was the kind that kept her up at nights wondering what was wrong with people nowadays. A five year old little boy had been admitted to Coruscant Medical three times within two weeks, always for the same reason – bruising on his face and upper torso. And his mother claimed she had no idea how he'd been hurt. And the boy?

He refused to talk.

No matter what it took, no matter how long it took, she would get to the bottom of all this secrecy. She would find the answers to her questions and then she would make the bastard pay who'd hurt the little boy. Eliziya knew from the bottom of her heart that the boys' mother was telling the truth. She hadn't hurt her son.

Eliziya had a hunch, though. Mom had a new boyfriend.

Rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn, she turned to the timepiece embedded in the desk. Annoyed and irritated, she switched on her com link and tried to calling her brother.

Kyrian was obviously running late since he'd wanted to show up an hour earlier but there was no response on his end.

Eliziya closed her eyes, breathing in deeply. She'd put on soft and quiet music when she started going through her case files and now while finally finding a little time to relax, she let her mind wander.

Evidently the only thing on her mind was a young, dark haired man with a breathtaking smile and a sultry, sexy voice and not to mention that perfectly shaped bottom of his…  
Quietly laughing at herself, she stood from her chair and stretched.

As she was about to head to the kitchen, when her small com link wobbled on the desk. She grabbed it, flipped it open, thinking it was her brother. "Top of the world. Your Goddess hears you. How may you serve me?"

The warm chuckle on the other end made her knees go weak. She steadied herself against the desk. "Do you really want me to answer that question, my lady?" Kyp asked and she could just imagine the way his lips lifted up into that devious little smile.

"Depends on what your answer is." She said in a husky voice, raising a single brow.  
"How about I sweep you off your feet and carry you towards the sunset like a fairy tale prince. Is that a good enough answer?"

"Oh, yes." Eliziya laughed. "And a lovely image, too."

A few moments passed in silence while she pushed away from the desk, walking back to the living room. She sat down on the sofa, leaned back and closed her eyes. "I know this sounds cheesy but I can hardly wait to see you again."

She grimaced. She'd just really said that out loud hadn't she…

Way to go, Liz!

She cleared her throat, blushing brightly. Thank the stars no one was there to see how she suddenly started to fidget. "Um…can we just forget I ever said that?"

Kyp laughed on the other end. "No. I don't think I want to forget."

The connection was lost a moment later. Had he hung up? Or was something wrong with the connection in general? Should she try and call him again?

Eliziya stared at her com link while she took a few deep breaths. She put it aside as she felt a shiver run along her spine. There was a tingle at the nape of her neck and she suddenly caught herself staring at the front door. Without really thinking about it, Eliziya got up and walked over, activating the controls in the wall.

She stepped into the corridor, turned left. Down the hall, the doors to the lift tube parted and Kyp stepped out. He looked marvelous, almost majestic with a dark brown cloak that billowed behind him as he walked towards her with measured steps.

Eliziya pushed away from the wall, seeing only him as he came closer. Before she knew it, they met halfway. She jumped him, legs going around his hips, her mouth finding his in a fervid kiss. Kyp leaned his back against the wall as he held onto her, a groan in the back of his throat while he returned her caress. Her fingers pushed into his thick hair, almost undoing the ponytail at the back of his head.

She dropped her feet to the floor a while later, holding on to his tunic with both hands. Keeping her eyes closed, focusing on her rapidly beating heart, trying to find a semblance of common sense, she smiled. "I was beginning to think my fairy tale prince had forgotten me." She whispered against his lips, earning a dark chuckle.

"Never."

*

That had been one hell of a great _hello-how-are-ya_.

Kyp tried his best to keep the grin off his face but he failed miserably as he followed Eliziya back into the apartment. He could still taste her on his lips, he could still feel her hands in his hair, on his face, her legs around his hips…

He took a deep breath and silently exhaled. Definitely hadn't expected a greeting that might have involved him falling flat on his face due to jellified knees. The fact that she'd been waiting on him had him wondering, though. How had she known? He hadn't told her that he was right outside the building when he'd commed her.

She'd been working, Kyp realized as he entered the apartment and took a quick look around. Eliziya clicked off the light in the study but he still caught sight of pads on the desk along with countless pieces of flimsies.

Soft music came through speakers in the corners of the living room, the kind of music that made you want to sit back and close your eyes to be swept away into a world of fantasy and make-believe. He almost snorted. Wouldn't that be perfect? Escaping reality for a while, not having to deal with other people's sithspit and pick up the garbage they left behind?

He rubbed his forehead. He hoped the mission would be easy and quick. Wasn't the first time he'd be out on a search and rescue and overall these kinds of tasks were pretty simple but you never knew, especially when politics came into play.

Kyp looked to Eliziya and sighed. She was just so lovely.

Her hair was bound into a messy bun, the same way when they'd first met. She wore a black button down shirt and loose fitting pants with matching jewelry around her neck and wrists. The silver bracelets dangled when she moved. Her eyes twinkled as she caught him looking her up and down and the smile she shot him made her that much more beautiful.

Still, his mood wasn't the best considering he had to tell her that he'd be leaving for a while. Obviously she would want to know why and obviously he should tell her the entire truth.

He took another deep breath. "There's something I haven't told you yet." He began, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He'd left his lightsaber back at the temporary quarters he shared with Nikk, not wanting to necessarily spook her, showing up with a weapon like that.

Liz held up a finger. "Hold that thought." A frown appeared on her features as she hugged her arms around herself. She squinted at the front door, as if trying to see something that wasn't even there.

Kyp blinked. "What is it?"

She sucked in a breath suddenly. "Oh, crap."

Kyp raised his brows, confused. "What's wrong?"

"Kyrian's here. Aw hell, he'll be here in like a minute." She turned towards Kyp, gesturing towards the bedroom. "You need to hide."

The first thought that rushed through Kyp's mind was of a holovid he'd seen a while ago about a teenage girl hiding her boyfriend after desecrating the entire house when the father came back from work.

"You're not serious."

Oh, but she was. Eliziya grabbed his hand and pulled him into her bedroom. "Please, please, _please_ be very quiet. He can't see you here."

"Why not?" Kyp asked, not able to conceal his amusement.

"Because I don't feel like getting into an argument with him. He's protective as hell and I swear he will beat the crap out of you if he sees you here."

He couldn't help it. He started to laugh.

"This isn't funny!" Liz said, slapping his arm. "He's a brute, I swear. He once smashed a boy's face in just because he made a rude remark towards me. I don't want to have to worry for your safety because my idiot brother has yet to realize I'm a grown woman."

Still, Kyp wouldn't stop laughing. If only she knew the truth, he thought with a pang of guilt.

The fact aside that he could undoubtedly mop the floor with Kyrian, it was still funny. Eliziya was making him _hide_.

In her bedroom, he realized a bit late.

"How do you even know he's here?" Kyp asked, brows raised.

"I always know when he's around. It's just this odd feeling." She shrugged. "Felt almost the same way when you got here, only a whole lot stronger."

The door chime sounded through the apartment. Eliziya gave him a quick kiss. "Stay put."  
Laughing to himself, Kyp gave her a curt and exaggerated nod. "Yes, ma'am."

*

She had _felt_ him approach.

Kyp mulled the fact over in his head while he quietly wandered through her bedroom.

Could it be? Could Liz be Force sensitive? Kyp pursed his lips, rubbing his chin. He'd have to test his theory once this hide and seek game was finally over with. Kyrian's voice carried through the closed bedroom door but Kyp couldn't understand the spoken words. So he distracted himself by gently running his fingers over the duvet on the bed.

A thick, dark red thing that looked and felt unbelievably soft.

There was a little stuffed animal between two pillows leaning against the headboard. He supposed it used to be some sort of bird. It only had a single wing left and its beak was missing. Seemed to be a relic from her childhood. There were candles on the night stands, a bottle of water and a small glass, and a data reader. He took the reader into his hands and read through the first page.

Figured.

A sappy romance novel.

Smiling, he set the reader aside and sat down on the bed, looking out through the window. He drew his cloak around himself, stretched his legs and simply let himself fall backwards. Her bed was soft and comfortable, unlike what he'd had to endure at the Jedi Academy or back on Kessel.

He wanted to tell her about Kessel, about what the Empire did to his home world. He didn't want to tell her about Exar Kun, though. Because at times he wasn't sure which of his dark deeds had been his own and which had been helped by the Sith Lords influence.

He ran a hand across his face. It was a very thin line, wandering through the light and the dark. The line grew blurry sometimes and in all honesty, it scared him just a bit. He never wanted to go back to the dark side but there were times when controlling his anger was decidedly difficult. Constantly, he seemed on edge, about to burst with just one single wrong word.

But when he was with Eliziya…he felt free, he felt happy…he felt alive.

There were no blurry lines when he was with her.

The door to her bedroom opened quietly and he slowly sat up. Eliziya grinned at him, walking around the bed to stand in front of him. He looked upward, his eyes lingering on her beautiful curves and then on her face. She leaned forward, cupping his face in her hands and kissed him.

"You look like you're rather comfortable." She whispered, pushing him back onto the bed while sliding onto his lap.

He gave an affirmative groan when she kissed him again. His hands slid up her legs, underneath her shirt and along her back. Eliziya pulled back and sat up, eyebrows raised suggestively.

"This _is_ quite comfortable, yes." He said, tucking his hands behind his head with a self satisfying smirk. Laughing, Eliziya kissed the tip of his nose and got back to her feet.

"Sorry about Kyrian." She cleared her throat. "Kind of embarrassing."

Kyp reached up and grabbed her hand, pulling her back down. She gave him a delighted laugh and he so wished to hear it again.

Never in his life had he imagined he'd meet a woman like Eliziya. Throughout the years while watching Nikk frolicking with the ladies, he'd wondered how things could be with someone he truly liked. He hadn't expected the flitter flies in his stomach, though. Or that his thoughts constantly wandered back to her. Or that he couldn't stop trying to relive their first kiss.

So much for her just being a fling…

Eliziya had grown important to him within only a few days.

He had to come clean with her. About everything. She deserved the hard honest truth.  
"There's something I need to tell you." He said quietly, playing with a strand of her dark brown hair. "I…um…I just hope that once you know, you won't turn away from me."  
_I hope that you won't be afraid of me…_

Eliziya grew serious almost instantly. She slid off his body and Kyp sat up, blowing out a breath.

"What are you talking about?" She asked quietly.

This was it then. He was going to tell her everything. His imagination ran wild as he pictured her throwing him out of her apartment, saying she never wanted to see him again. And then what?

Life would go on, the only difference? He wouldn't be able to get her off his mind.  
Eliziya settled down beside him, throwing him a questioning glance.

"I just got word today that I have to leave in forty eight hours." Kyp began, taking in details of her face and trying his best to memorize them. A few freckles on the bridge of her nose, dimples in her cheeks when she smiled…"I shouldn't be gone too long but…missions like these sometimes go awry even though they're planned out in detail."

Her hair curled at the ends, the color a lighter shade of brown. The diamond shaped earrings she wore twinkled when she moved.

She frowned. "Missions? What are you saying? Are you with the military?"

Kyp smiled. "Sort of. It's a search and rescue mission. Should be easy. Find the guy, get him out and try not to get killed."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Now you're scaring me."

Kyp turned to face her. He took her soft, slender hands into his own and ran his thumbs along her knuckles. "I've had to deal with worse." He said quietly, staring down at their entwined hands. "Much worse, actually. This is…well, compared to everything else, this is easy."

"Compared to what, exactly?" She asked slowly. There was a look in her eyes that he couldn't quite decipher. Was it worry? Shock? Force forbid…fear?

"Um…like having to break my bones to fit into a message cylinder or else blow up and die."

"I'm sorry…what?" There was a look of utter disbelief on her features. Maybe she would choose not to believe him and simply think he was a total head case. One side of her mouth lifted into a lopsided little grin. "You're messing with me, aren't you?"

Kyp cupped her face in his hands, wanting to drown in the depths of her dark brown eyes. "I wish I were. But it's true."

Her grin faded, as if it hadn't even been there in the first place. She took his hands into hers, holding tightly. "What are you saying, Kyp? Are you some special agent with some security force or something?"

He chuckled softly. Leave it to Liz to make him laugh even though he was screaming bloody hell on the inside. "Uh…no. Although I'll leave that option open for a later line of work."

"What is it that you do then?"

Kyp took a deep breath and looked at her one more time. Her fingers entwined with his, strands of dark hair framing her beautiful face, eyes alight with intrigue and worry – absolutely breathtaking.

"I'm a Jedi Knight, Eliziya."

For five heartbeats it felt like silence was threatening to choke him. He tried to scan her emotional grid but he got absolutely nothing. A little frown appeared on his forehead. How the hell was that possible? She was a blank spot in the room all of sudden, no emotions, no thoughts.

She was intentionally blocking him.

"A Jedi?" She asked quietly, gently caressing his face with a single finger. Her smile was forced and not very warm at all. She splayed her fingers on his chest, right above his heart. "I knew there was something different about you."


	11. Chapter 11

"There's so much more you need to know." Kyp said quietly, barely hearing his voice. He swallowed, wiping his hands on his legs. Why the hell was it suddenly so damned hot? "A lot more."

He hated being nervous and throughout the years he'd pretty much perfected holding the nervous feelings at bay but when it came to being truthful with Eliziya…well, something was different.

With her _everything_ was different.

"You make it sound like it's something horrible." She said softly, turning away from him. He watched her as she stared through the window, her mind far away, her expression unreadable. He wondered what was going through her mind. He wondered if she was angry, disappointed, worried. Afraid?

There was no way to tell because she was still blocking him.

Kyp shrugged. "What if it is, Eliziya? What if I'm not the person you think I am? What…what if I'm one of the bad guys?"

For a long moment, she said nothing at all. Still staring into nothingness, he noted how she toyed with her fingers, distracting herself. It felt like she didn't _want_ to look at him. Kyp took a deep breath and tried ignoring the sudden hurt that pierced his chest.

He had the feeling that he'd just destroyed the best thing he'd ever had – by telling the truth.

"Eliziya?"

"You're a good person, Kyp." She said hastily, turning his way and smiling. Unshed tears glistened as she inclined her head to the side. "My heart tells me that you're a good person."

She reached for his hand, sliding her fingers between his. Silence stretched into long seconds while Kyp mulled over the fact that he couldn't read her emotions. There was only one explanation and it gave him hope; she was Force sensitive. And she didn't even know it.

His com link chirped, breaking the quiet moment. Eliziya got to her feet and moved away while Kyp went for the com link. He ripped it out of his pocket, flipped it open and tried his best to make his voice sound halfway civil. "What?" He barked.

"Am I interrupting?"

"What do you _want_, Jade?" Kyp tried softening his voice but it was difficult. It was always difficult dealing with Mara Jade and since she didn't much care for social calls, Kyp knew it had to do with the mission.

For a long moment, Kyp toyed with the idea that the universe was out to get him. All he was asking for was a quiet moment with Eliziya so he could help her understand who he was…what he was.

"My, my, my. Someone's in a bad mood."

"Is there a reason why you're being a pain?" He glanced back towards Eliziya, giving her an apologetic shrug and an equivalent of a kind smile.

"Indeed. It's about the mission. There's someone who'd like to have a talk with you before you head out."

"Now?"

"Yes, now. He has an office in the Senate Halls. I'll send you the coordinates in a few minutes. Do not keep him waiting."

Kyp cut the line and tucked the com link away. He sighed, ran his hands through his hair. So much for a little vacation time.

"You have to go." Eliziya said. She hugged herself, slender fingers wrapped around her upper arms.

He paused. He hated having to leave her like this. There was no need for the Force because he saw that she was sad maybe even hurt. "I'll be back as soon as I can." Kyp walked up to her and took her hands into his. He lifted them to his lips and slowly kissed her knuckles. Her skin was so soft, her scent reminded him of a field of blooming roses. He tried to memorize every detail that he could because…things had changed.

"Will you be here?" Fear made his voice tremble. What if she didn't want to see him again?

"Yes." Eliziya stepped closer and stood on her toes, kissing him slowly. "I'll be here."

*

After Kyp left, Eliziya sat down on her bed. She grabbed her little stuffed bird, the one her father had gotten for her on her fourth birthday. She tucked the tattered little thing underneath her chin and wrapped her arms around it.

A Jedi…

She'd tried her best not to show Kyp how surprised she'd truly been. She'd shoved her thoughts to the outskirts of her mind, thinking of nothing at all, just blankness. Evidently it had worked because he should have felt her roiling emotions, right?

He hadn't. Or else he'd chosen not to act on them.

The moment he'd spoken the word Jedi, Eliziya was reminded of her mother's deep voice and how she would go on and on about how they were awful beings.

Her mother had tried to raise her children to hate the Jedi. Eliziya had never understood the animosity her mother held towards them. At times it would grow so fierce that one wrong word, one compliment towards a good deed a Jedi had done, would warrant a slap in the face.

Eliziya would never forget the time Hera had caught her watching a simple documentary about the Old Order. She'd gone crazy, yelling and screaming at Liz. She shouted at her daughter, claiming that she was no better than the worst of them. Cruel, untrustworthy and overall worthless.

Throughout the years she'd become wary with anything that had to do with the Force and the Jedi. She simply turned a blind eye to it, a deaf ear. It didn't concern her. It wasn't her life. Jedi were like characters in a book. You read about them and then you cast them aside because they just didn't belong to average real life.

But they did. Kyp was proof.

And Kyp was nothing like her mother had claimed a Jedi would be.  
He wasn't mean or spiteful, he didn't seem dangerous. He was kind and nice, warm and loving…he was a wonderful man.

So why was she having second thoughts all of a sudden? Why was she suddenly so afraid that her fingers trembled?

Breathing in deeply, Eliziya held her little bird in both hands and smiled. Her sight was blurred, tears silently running down her rosy cheeks. She had so many questions she wanted to ask Kyp.

What was life like as a Jedi? How did the Force work? Could he read minds like she'd heard on the net once?

Stars! What if he could?

_The Jedi are dangerous, Eliziya…_

Her mothers' voice jumped around in her head, making it even harder to keep from crying. She hated being so vulnerable. She hated when her feelings got the better of her – crying just wasn't acceptable.

Wiping her cheeks and setting her jaw, Eliziya set her little bird back into its original spot and hurried to her study. She needed more information. Maybe if she read a bit about the Jedi, it would ease her mind a little.

It was definitely worth a try because right now she was….well, confused didn't even cut it.

*

Kyp had only ventured into the Senate Halls a handful of times. He generally avoided anything to do with supposedly higher standing individuals. He hated the way they treated him, treated anyone they thought below them. And it tended to be rather difficult to keep his mouth shut, a fact that got him into more trouble than he cared to remember.

A middle aged human woman sat at the front desk as he entered the office complex. She smiled warmly and showed him to the meeting room. She seemed to be a sweet woman, the kind of woman anyone would want as a mother in law. Despite his foul mood, he couldn't help but be polite.

As he entered the meeting room, Kyp was surprised to see a tall man clad in an expensive looking suit standing near a huge window that took in most of the wall. He stood with his back to Kyp, holding a small glass in his hand half filled with…brandy?

For a moment, Kyp wondered whether to clear his throat to catch the man's attention but he decided against it. The man knew Kyp was there. He'd just wait it out.

Kyp watched as he lifted the glass to his lips. He paused and then downed the drink in one go.

When he finally turned around, Kyp had to hold it together. Rolling his eyes, groaning or simply rubbing his brows was definitely a stupid thing to do.

This day was just getting better and better…

Universe. Out. To. Get. Him.

Maybe this was payback for all the times he'd told people to go kriff themselves…

Kyp clasped his hands behind his back like a good little Jedi and forced a tight lipped smile. All he had to do was play nice and he would walk out only _slightly_ pissed and annoyed.

The man in question was Kyrian.

Eliziya's brother.

Just kriffing peachy.

Kyp knew he'd recognized the hologram in Liz's apartment. Her brother was a damned politician. And her brother was also the one who'd asked for Jedi assistance.

It was imperative he behave himself.

One, he had to look good for the Jedi and two…Eliziya. Kyp didn't want to have to confess that the first meeting with her brother ended up in a fist fight.

"Jedi Knight Durron."

Force…he even had the sleazy voice to match the appearance. He was taller than Kyp with wide shoulders that fit a ball player perfectly. His suit seemed tailor made, a shiny black thing with silver threads. Dark blond hair was combed back from a masculine face and bright blue eyes stared at him with curiosity and something else Kyp couldn't recognize. What was up with all the hidden feelings all of a sudden? It was getting highly irritating.

Kyp nodded. "At your service." He said with a slight lift of his brow, wondering what Kyrian would do if Kyp gave him a little mock salute.

_Idiot. Be nice._

"Have a seat." Kyrian gestured to one of a dozen chairs surrounding a long oval table in the center of the meeting room. Kyp didn't want to sit. Kyp didn't want to be in the same room with the guy. For Force's sake, he'd just hidden from him at his sisters place! Life just had a way to push him into situations he could well do without.

_Madness_.

Kyp pulled out a chair and plopped his butt down like an inelegant farmboy. Kyrian took a seat opposite him, setting his empty glass down on the table.

"I was surprised that Master Skywalker chose you for this mission."

_Here we go again…_

Kyp nearly groaned. "Is that so?"

"Indeed. Your reputation precedes you, Jedi Durron."

Kyp did not snort.

_Good boy._

"And yet here I am." He leaned back nonchalantly.

Kyrian rubbed his jaw as he gave Kyp a scrutinizing look. "I usually don't like dealing with Jedi."

"And I don't like dealing with pompous jerks. And yet I'm here talking to you."  
Three heartbeats. That's how long it took to get a reaction from Kyrian. It wasn't the reaction Kyp was expecting. Kyrian started to laugh.

He actually looked like a nice guy when he laughed. But there was that bit about looks being deceiving and all that…"I was warned that you might be…difficult to get along with."

This time Kyp _did_ snort. Because it sounded like something Mara Jade would say. "I'll take that as compliment if you don't mind."

"Please do."

"So…I'm here because?"

"As I said, I don't like dealing with the Jedi. I don't trust your kind."  
"Uh-huh." Kyp said, raising a brow. "And?"

"I'm doing this for my wife. It's her brother who's been kidnapped. Yes, he has information important for a classified operation but it is my main concern that he simply be brought back alive. For my wife's sake. I promised her I would do anything in my power to get Jensen back and so I'm asking for your assistance. No matter the cost."  
"Master Skywalker doesn't know that it's a family matter?"

Kyrian shook his head. "No. And my wife, Sera, doesn't know that I've asked the Jedi for help."

"Alright."

Kyrian paused, staring at Kyp with half a smile. "Admittedly, there is also the fact that I wanted to satisfy my personal curiosity. Master Skywalker has assured me that you are one of the best Jedi Knights and therefore more than qualified for this operation. I believe him, of course. And yet…I'm at odds with myself."

_I wonder why, you smarmy bastard…_

Kyp laughed. "Go ahead. Take a good look. Let me know when you're done so I can get back to my life."

Kyrian chuckled. "You're not at all what I imagined you to be."

"A cold merciless killer?" Kyp said in a flat voice.

"Perhaps."

"Sorry to burst your bubble."

"Are you always like this?"

Kyp shrugged. "Maybe."

Kyrian leaned forward, folding his hands on the table. "I will admit that I don't trust you, Jedi Durron. But if you truly are the best, then I know you will bring Jensen back."  
"I will. You have my word."

"Thank you. That's all I wanted to hear."

Kyp gave him a curt nod and pushed away from the table. But he halted when Kyrian cleared his throat. "You must leave first thing tomorrow morning."

Ah…sleazy with a commando voice…wonderful…

"Complications?" Kyp asked slowly.

"Yes. I fear for his life. He's caught in the crosshairs of two rival factions. He knows things; he's seen and heard things that could destroy a lot of lives."

Kyp's face darkened visibly. "How old is Jensen?"

"Eighteen."

"He's just a kid."

"Yes. Too young to have to be involved in such a disgusting and revolting world such as politics."

"Alright. I'll leave tomorrow." Kyp said in a dark voice.

"Thank you." Kyrian frowned as he stood. "Jedi Durron…do you know what it's like to lose a family member?"

"Yes." Kyp said quietly, closing his eyes for half a second.

"Then you know that I want to keep Sera from going through such pain."

"I understand."

Kyrian gave him curt a nod. Kyp left with a knot in his stomach.


	12. Chapter 12

Eliziya gripped a steaming cup of hot chocolate while she stared at the computer screen. For the past hour she'd been going through seemingly endless files on the Jedi and the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. It seemed like Master Skywalker was looking to build a new Order, similar to the one that existed years ago. She tried keeping to general and historical files, thinking it best to read through articles without the journalists' personal opinion. Eliziya knew first-hand what it was like to deal with biased people.

All in all, the Jedi seemed to be an interesting group. There wasn't anything evil or dangerous about them – unless you counted those who went rogue, dark or Sith. But that only happened, what? Once every fifty years or so?

Eliziya set her cup aside and took a deep breath. So far she was pretty satisfied with the information on the Jedi and she could put her mind at ease. They certainly didn't seem like the good-for-nothing beings her mother had always made them out to be. According to the files, the Jedi would risk their lives to save another. They would die for a cause they believed in. They _had_ died for causes they believed in. It was rather impressive, really. Selfless and compassionate yet lethal if the need arose.

Sitting back, Eliziya rubbed her chin. Was Kyp like this as well? Would he risk his life to save others, to help them in need?

She knew the answer already. She felt it humming through her skin.

_Yes. He would._

Her fingers hovered above the keyboard as she blankly stared at the screen. All she had to do was type in his name. If she was lucky she might actually get a few hits but…was it really the right thing to do?

It felt wrong to check up on him like this. General info on the Jedi was absolutely fine but literally spying on a person over the net?

Yet something told her that there was much more to him than met the eye. The right thing to do was to let him tell her what he wanted to tell her. But damn her curiosity, she wanted to know. How long had he been a Jedi? When did he find out that he could use the Force? Had he seen battles? Had he had to kill?

Endless questions bombarded her mind. Eliziya rubbed her brows, pushed away from her desk.

Kyp had said that there was more she needed to know. If that was the case, then she would let Kyp tell her. It felt horribly wrong going behind his back like this and if she wanted to make this work with him – which she did – she was going to have to trust him.

Anyway, whatever he had to tell couldn't be all _that_ bad.

Eliziya stood, headed to her bedroom. She changed into more comfortable clothes, loose fitting pants and a simple top and hurriedly bound her hair together at the back of her head. She stood in front of the mirror for a long while. What did Kyp see in her? Just a woman to spend some time with while on planet or something more? Was she just a distraction for him?

Frowning, Eliziya pushed the thoughts to the farthest regions of her mind and took a deep breath, trying on a smile. Definitely better than the frown that made her look five years older.

_Watch out for those wrinkles, dear…_

Slowly her fingers wandered to the hem of her shirt. She pulled it up, turned to the side and looked at the scar marring her skin. So many years had passed since Sevastian had died and yet it still hurt to be reminded. She hadn't talked about the scar or her brother in a long time and whenever the topic came up, she would avoid it at all costs.

But maybe it was time finally open up about it. Maybe it was time to finally tell the whole truth.

Because eventually her secret would eat her up alive.

Turning away from the mirror with a sigh on her lips, Eliziya went to the kitchen and started opening cabinets in search of something decent to eat. Her eyes caught onto the half empty pack of cookies and before she knew it, a bright smile split her face.

Kyp liked cookies. Well…from now on she'd make sure to always have cookies in the house.

One night…just one more night until it was time to leave for who knew how long. Standing on the platform of a lift tube, Kyp touched the back of his head to the wall and listened to the quiet humming as the lift ascended. The knot in his stomach had turned into one big heavy stone. He felt sick just thinking about having to leave when he wanted to stay with Eliziya.

When he was with her, he felt free. Finally, he felt like he could be himself without having to hide. And he loved the feeling.

One more night.

When the lift stopped and the doors parted, Kyp stepped out into a darkened corridor. Six doors down to his left and he reached his destination. Eliziya was at home, he could feel her. How strange…her Force presence was strong as ever and he could read her emotional state like an open book, even this far away.

He closed his eyes and imagined her presence like a rainbow colored sphere. Everyone else in his vicinity seemed pale compared to her; there were blues and greens, reds and whites but nothing near as beautiful and bright as Eliziya's presence.

His lips lifted into a smile as he touched the door chime. It opened a moment later and he found he couldn't breathe as his eyes settled on the most beautiful woman to ever walk into his life. She smiled at him as she stepped aside to let him in but for a moment that felt like an eternity, he couldn't move. Time stood still. The world, the universe – it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Not the mission, not the past, not the Jedi…absolutely nothing mattered.

Kyp reached out and took her hand into his. His fingers trembled as he raised her hand to his lips. He breathed in her scent as he kissed her knuckles. Stars, he was nervous all of a sudden. And he didn't know why. All this while it had been so easy, so simple to be around her but now he found he could barely think straight.

He looked at her but never let go of her hand. Eliziya pulled him into her home, her smile so warm that it made his skin tingle in the most peculiar way.

What the hell was wrong with him?

"You okay?" She asked. "You look sick."

Kyp laughed, shaking his head. Strands of hair fell into his face, tickling his nose. When the door swished closed behind him, Kyp pulled her close. She was flush against his chest and it seemed like such a perfect, seamless match. His arms went around her waist and he dipped his head forward, kissing the side of her neck. Force, she smelled so wonderful. He slid his lips upward behind her ear, nibbled at her lobe while his fingers found their way underneath the shirt she wore.

A soft moan escaped her throat; she tilted her head to the side. Kyp kissed his way down her shoulder, gently sliding the straps of her top down her arm. He closed his eyes, squeezing her hip. Now was the time to think clearly, to keep his head on straight even though it seemed like an impossible thing to do. He wanted to kiss every inch of her body, he wanted to feel her warm skin on his…he wanted to pleasure her…

Kyp took a step back.

He'd never had these sorts of thoughts about a woman before. The need to be as close to her as he possibly could was almost overwhelming.

Eliziya smiled at him and it made his stomach flutter. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked with raised brows. "You seem a little…off."

"I am a little off. And it's your fault."

She pushed her lower lip forward into a pout. Wasn't that just the cutest thing he'd ever seen? "My fault?"

"Mhm." He pulled her close again and slowly nipped at her lips. "It's so damned hard to resist you, sweetheart."

"I never said you _had_ to resist me." She raised a suggestive eyebrow. Kyp laughed against her lips before he decided that a kiss was in order.

When she pulled free of his arms, Eliziya cleared her throat and tried hiding the blush in her cheeks by turning her face away. So it wasn't just Kyp who seemed a little distracted by the obvious heavy sparks sizzling between them.

"Um…can I get you anything?" Eliziya asked, tucking strands of hair behind her ear. She avoided looking at him, instead she dropped her gaze to her folded hands. "Caf? Water? Tea?" She gestured to the kitchen with a little nod. "Are you hungry?"

It was all Kyp could do not to start laughing. How adorable was this? The words just seemed to tumble out of her mouth and the moment she noticed how quickly she spoke, she completely shut up. In fact, her lips were drawn into a thin line, as if she were biting the inside of her cheek.

Plus, she was waiting for an answer. She started to fidget, tugging at her shirt, tucking yet more strands of hair behind her ear, clearing her throat but still she refused to lift her eyes.

Smiling to himself, Kyp stepped forward. He was still nervous, excited even, but he held himself under enough control that he could tilt her head upward with his thumb. He sighed when their eyes finally met. For a long moment, he wondered what would happen if Eliziya stayed at his side. Would she want to be part of his life? Could she face what would come their way?

Could she even imagine being with him?

Because he sure as hell could imagine quite a lot and so far Eliziya fit in perfectly. He had a feeling that she wasn't the kind of person to run and hide when things got rough.

_So how come it's so difficult to tell her about your past?_

He nearly grimaced. Yeah, there was _that_.

"You're staring."

"Am I?" He touched her lower lip with the pad of his thumb and thoroughly enjoyed the sound of her sharp intake of breath. Never in a million years had he dreamed it possible a woman like Eliziya could react to him in this way. She liked him. The blush in her cheeks told him that she liked him a lot.

And the feeling was mutual.

"Yes. You're still staring."

"Because you're amazing, Eliziya." Kyp said, his voice low. He cupped the side of her face in his hand and smiled when she leaned into his touch. "I've never met anyone quite like you before."

He reached forward with tendrils of warm Force energy, gently poking at her mind. She was a bundle of emotions. He felt her surprise and her excitement but there were also threads of caution and unease. Did she feel on edge because of him?

Kyp dropped his hand to his side and forced a smile. "Water."

Eliziya blinked. "Huh?"

"A cup of water would be nice."

"_Oh!_ Um…yeah. Sure. Just…uh…make yourself comfortable. I'll be right back." She hurried to the kitchen, hugging herself.

Kyp undid the cloak around his shoulders and laid it over the back of the sofa. He glanced down to his hip where he usually kept his lightsaber clipped to his belt. The past few days he hadn't minded leaving without his trusted weapon but now that Eliziya knew about him being a Jedi, he felt oddly naked without it.

He took a deep breath to calm his frayed nerves. There was so much he wanted to tell Eliziya, starting with the fact that he believed she was a Force sensitive. How would she react to the news, he wondered. Would she let herself be tested? The possibility still remained that he was reading far too much into the situation, a sort of wishful thinking. Because if she truly was Force sensitive…the prospect of a life with Eliziya close by wasn't too farfetched.

Kyp turned around when he heard Eliziya approach from the kitchen. She held a small glass halfway filled with water in one hand. "Anything else I can get you?"

Kyp took a sip and tried not to chuckle. "Sure."

He let the word hang between them for a long moment. Eliziya raised her brows in question, waiting for him to go on. Of course, Kyp took his time. It was harmless fun teasing her like this. He raised the glass to his lips again, arching an eyebrow and smirking suggestively.

"You're being awfully…difficult." She said a few seconds later, crossing her arms over her chest. Kyp laughed at her assessment.

"I'm known for being difficult, sweetheart." He took a step towards the caf table and set the glass down. "But to answer your question about what else you could get me, since you're being such a cordial host –"

"I always am." She almost sounded offended.

"—I was sort of hoping for some quality time before I leave tomorrow morning."

Eliziya blinked a few times but said nothing. Seconds passed by in utter silence while he watched her. The Force told him that she was surprised and disappointed and even though he felt like an ass, he liked that she was disappointed. Meant she didn't want him to leave.

"Tomorrow? Didn't you say two days?"

Kyp nodded. "Yeah. Something's changed. I leave tomorrow."

"Oh."

Was that sadness he detected? Coupled with worry for him?

Kyp reached for her hand and pulled her close. He dipped his head, captured warm soft lips with his. His fingers slipped between hers and he squeezed her hands as he deepened the kiss. Her moan ran through his skin; the hairs on his arms stood on end, his blood ran faster and hotter and before he knew it, his arms completely encircled her. He had no idea how long they stood in one another's embrace but eventually he had to let her go – breathing was essential, after all.

Still, he laughed when Liz held on to his arms to steady herself. "Knees buckling?" Kyp asked mischievously.

Eliziya cleared her throat, stood up straight and smoothed down the front of her shirt as if nothing had happened. "Of course not."

"Sure about that? You're a little pale and I could have sworn I felt you sway."

She narrowed her eyes on him.

"Wow." Kyp said with a smirk. "I hadn't realized I was that good of a kisser."

Playfully Eliziya slapped his upper arm. Kyp jumped back with a yelp, rubbing the spot where her hand had caught him.

"I hope you're hungry." She said, dark eyes glistening. "I'm going to go make us some dinner."

"Do I get something special because my kiss almost made you faint?"

"How about a slap upside the head?" Eliziya called over her shoulder, walking into the kitchen.


	13. Chapter 13

She knew she had candles hidden inside the cabinets _somewhere_. All she had to do was find them, which seemed to be a more difficult task than she'd first thought. Eliziya wanted the evening to be nice and if they were having dinner together then why not set the mood?

She closed the lower cabinet and straightened with a little sigh. Her eyes wandered upwards to the cupboard where she kept the caf. With her luck the candles were up there somewhere but to reach it, she'd have to get back on the stool. And she remembered quite vividly how that had ended last time…

Eliziya blew out a breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was worried about Kyp, it was just that simple. If his mission had been moved up by a day…it didn't sit well with her. What if it was more dangerous than Kyp was letting on? She didn't want him to get hurt…or worse.

"You alright?"

Eliziya jumped and whirled around. Stars, she was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she hadn't even heard him come in. Kyp stood leaning in the door, feet crossed at the ankles, arms over his chest. She truly liked the picture in front of her. Smug little smile on his face, hair in disarray, dressed casually in a no-nonsense matter…oh yeah. She'd already fallen for him and she knew it and it scared the hell out of her.

"I'm fine."

Kyp raised his brows. "You're a bad liar."

Eliziya grimaced. This was something she was going to have to get used to. Reminding herself again and again that Kyp was a Jedi, that he could do things with his mind that other people could only dream of…

"Can you…you know… read my mind?" She asked slowly, backing up until her hip caught the counter.

"No. And even if I could I would never do so without permission. It's a violation of privacy on the most intimate level. A Jedi never crosses that line."

"What…" She searched her mind for the right words. "What _can_ you do? I mean, Jedi use the Force and I've seen some amazing things but…"

"Well, there's a number of things I can do. I'm an empath, for starters." Kyp said, stepping forward slowly. "I feel emotions. Any kind of emotions. And I can always tell when someone's lying to me."

"Is that so?" Eliziya rubbed her neck as Kyp came closer. He braced his hands against the counter on either side of her body, his face only inches away from hers. She could feel his warm breath on her skin; strands of his hair tickled her cheek as he whispered. "But I don't need the Force to tell me you were lying. You're not very good at it. Period."

"I'm not sure if I should be insulted or not."

"Never be insulted by facts."

Eliziya frowned. "You're not helping."

"What's bothering you, Liz?"

She pursed her lips. "You can feel my emotions, right? Figure it out." With a slight smile, she pushed him away and went about gathering everything she needed to cook a meal. She had yet to decide what she wanted to cook but decided the easiest way to go was to simply shove something into the cooker. And then get to the candles. She lifted her head and scowled at the cupboard.

"Right now you're annoyed." Kyp said.

"Indeed."

Eliziya heard him chuckle. He came up behind her, opened the cabinet where she hoped the candles were stashed. "So what's in here that you need?"

"Candles."

Kyp blinked and shot her a look that she couldn't quite discern. He was surprised at least. That was a good thing. "Dinner with candles. It's nice." She shrugged it off as if it wasn't important to her at all.

But it was.

She wanted nice with Kyp.

Eliziya watched as he stretched to reach the back of the cabinet. A moment later he pulled out a pack of dark red candles and placed them on the counter. "Anything else I can help you with?"

Now it was Eliziya's turn to smirk. "Yeah. You can get out."

Surprise and shock flittered across his face. "You want me to leave?" He asked slowly, as if measuring each word separately.

"I want you to get out of the kitchen. I can't concentrate when you're around."

In an instant, his face lit up with a big smile. "So, not only am I such a good kisser that you nearly fall over but you just admitted that my presence alone distracts you."

"Your ego is about to blow up the building, Kyp."

"Admit it, sweetheart. I'm irresistible, aren't I?"

Eliziya grabbed a towel from the counter and snapped it towards him. Kyp jumped aside, laughing at her. "Admit it!"

"Get out!"

Kyp stopped inside the door, leaning against the frame with his shoulder. "Why don't you just admit it? You know you want to."

"Get out, you smart ass."

"Do I get a kiss before you kick me out of your kitchen?" He batted his eyelashes and pursed his lips. Eliziya snapped the towel towards him and with a little yelp, he left for the living room.

Eliziya switched on quiet music before she went about setting the table. Kyp had asked to help her but she'd shaken her head – she needed something to do to keep from openly staring at him. Kyp followed her wherever she went, talking about this and that and she had the feeling that he was looking for something to do just to keep busy.

Eliziya set a bottle of Avedame on the table, an expensive and hard to come by wine she'd picked up months ago at a market in the lower regions. She'd been saving it for a special occasion. In her book, this was definitely a special occasion. With a half smile on her face she said, "Would you…you know…show me something?"

Kyp lifted his brows and the grin that graced his features told her exactly that his mind was working on one track only. "Like what?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

She walked around the table and stopped a few paces away from him. Her breath caught in her throat. So handsome…so utterly handsome. Green eyes twinkled mischievously while he leaned against the wall, ankles crossed, arms hanging loosely at his sides. Eliziya bit the inside of her lip as she approached and raised a hand to touch him. Deviously slow, she ran a single finger down the center of his chest. And she loved the fact that his breath caught in his throat.

He relaxed when she came closer still, her other hand on his hip. She slipped her fingers underneath his tunic, suddenly wondering what he looked like underneath. She was surprised at the sudden urge to see him unclothed.

"I was referring to…um…"

Kyp grew completely still, staring at her. Eliziya knew she had him exactly where she wanted him and she also knew, if she made a move to tug off his tunic, he would let her. It made her crack a little smile. Strong, fierce, stubborn Jedi Knight undone by a mere normal little woman.

Flush against his chest, she lifted her eyes to meet his. Her lips were only inches away from his. She could kiss him…but she didn't. "As I was saying, I was referring to what you can do with the Force."

"There's a lot I can do…with the Force." He whispered and the double entendre in his voice wasn't lost on her.

"Like what?" It was difficult not to smile. And even more difficult not to rip his tunic off his body.

A few seconds passed in silence. Kyp's half smile turned into a smirk. He closed his eyes and all of a sudden, Eliziya felt a tingle course through her body. It was truly a fantastic feeling that started at her toes and ended up in the tips of her fingers. A shiver ran along her skin; the hairs on her body stood on end, her heartbeat quickened, her breathing grew faster.

She tilted her head back as invisible fingers touched her. It was the most amazing thing she'd ever experienced. She felt Kyp's Force touch on her face, her neck and throat, lower along the curve of her breast and her stomach…

She sucked in a breath, exhaled on a moan. "Holy…hell…"

"Did you like that?" Kyp asked slowly, leaning forward as he whispered in her ear.

All she could manage was a little nod.

"So you see…I am quite gifted in things concerning the Force. In many different ways." He grazed her earlobe with his teeth, earning a slight hiss. Eliziya leaned into him, hands wandering up his chest underneath his tunic. Soft, warm skin, hard muscular body…stars, she wanted to see him.

Kyp dropped his hands to her wrists. He stopped her advances with a smile on his lips, "I sense that you're…impatient."

Impatient…one hell of an understatement.

_Get yourself together…_

She blew out a breath, then another one and then she smiled. "You're making me lose my mind, my dear Jedi."

"Well now, we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Gently, he massaged her hands between his. His palms were rough, calloused but his caress was soft. He had the touch of a lover but she was certain that these hands that so gently held her could do a lot of damage as well. She looked to where their hands were linked, fingers intertwined.

She raised her gaze, speechless. She wanted to say something, anything but nothing came to mind. All she managed was a smile.

"You know what I'd like?" Kyp whispered, leaning forward and kissing her cheek. He slid his lips down to her jaw, to her neck.

"Hm?" Eliziya tilted her head to the side, giving him better access. She held back a moan when he kissed the spot behind her ear.

"I'd like for you to wear your hair down."

He used the Force again. It tingled along her skin; she shivered. She felt little tugs in her hair as Kyp pulled out the pins, one after the other. It was the oddest sensation as she looked at him, knowing that he was touching her and yet…he wasn't. A moment later, dark tresses of thick hair spilled over her shoulders, framing her face.

Kyp cupped her cheeks in his hands, stroking with his thumbs. "Beautiful."

His kiss was soft and passionate, long and lazy. He took his time as he caressed her, as his hands wandered along her back and into her hair. His arms went around her shoulders, around her waist and he pulled her as close as he possibly could.

Eliziya gripped his tunic, nails digging into his skin. It was all she could do to hold on because her legs could no longer hold her upright.

It turned out to be rather difficult to let her go. Common sense set in and Kyp backed off, forehead touching hers while he calmed his breathing. With a smile that nearly knocked him off his feet, Eliziya untangled herself from his embrace. She turned away and headed into the kitchen – he'd nearly forgotten about their dinner.

While Kyp was alone, he ran his hands through his hair, took a few breaths. Indeed, this was an entirely new experience for him. He had no words to describe the feelings that she invoked.

He wanted to spend as much time with her as he could but life as a Jedi wasn't easy. There weren't very many Jedi couples and there was a reason for that. Some made it work and they _seemed_ happy…

Happy…the word kept repeating itself over and over in his mind. Happiness was something Kyp had given up on years ago, right around the time he'd witnessed his parents' deaths. He'd never really had anything to be happy about and when the time came to train at the Jedi Academy, he considered it a chance to break free of the chains that still had him tethered to his past. But happiness had never crossed his mind. It had taken months for him to finally remember what it was like to be carefree, what it was like to laugh.

But happy suddenly felt possible. He turned towards the kitchen, listening to Eliziya opening cabinets, humming to herself. Just a few steps away lay happiness for him.

Whatever it took, he wouldn't – _couldn't _– let her go.


	14. Chapter 14

Eliziya didn't dare turn back to the entrance of the kitchen, afraid that she would drop what she was doing in an instant and hurry back into the living room. No one had ever touched her the way Kyp had. No one had ever kissed her the way he had, either. And the look in his eyes when he held her with such care…

She took a deep breath and blew it out while grabbing two plates from the cupboard. Placing them on the counter, she bit her lower lip to keep from giggling like a maniac. It felt like she was living her own private little fairy tale. And fairy tales always had happy endings right?

Quietly laughing to herself, she carefully shoveled a bit of a meat roast onto each plate, including spoonfuls of vegetables and golden protatos. Eliziya turned to the conservator, opened the door and smiled as she picked up a large bowl with redberries topped with chocolate cream.

Dessert.

If it had been up to her, she would have skipped dinner altogether and gone directly to dessert – literally and figuratively speaking. But she didn't want to seem too desperate. She put the bowl aside, grabbed the plates and headed to the dining table.

Kyp was standing in the living room, looking at the collection of family holograms that adorned her walls. She watched him, still holding the plates in her hands. He was truly a beautiful picture to behold the way he stepped closer to a hologram to get a better look, or how he slowly reached out to a picture of a younger version of herself and gently stroked her cheek.

"Hope you're hungry." Eliziya said quietly, placing the plates on the table. Kyp approached, his eyes all but devouring her. "It's not much. I'm not much of a fancy cooker. But there's dessert."

She tried not to smile like a madwoman. Redberries and chocolate cream…she could hardly wait. When it came to sweets, she was like a little girl on lifeday.

One side of his lip lifted into a mischievous smile. "What kind of dessert?"

Eliziya laughed as she sat down. "You have a one track mind."

"Can you blame me?" He pulled out a chair and took a seat while Eliziya opened the bottle of Avedame and poured their glasses half full.

She put the bottle aside and lifted her glass. Kyp did the same, smiling at her with a twinkle in his eyes. It was all she could do not to sigh and melt right then and there. She was having dinner with this wonderful man, a man who had knocked her off her feet the minute they had met.

It didn't matter anymore that he was a Jedi. It didn't matter what she'd been raised to believe because for the time being she could ignore it. What mattered was that she felt like herself around Kyp. She felt complete. And she loved every damned moment of it.

"To a wonderful night." She said softly and their glasses clinked above golden, flickering candle light while they smiled at one another, forgetting the world, forgetting the universe.

It had never been this easy to talk to someone before. While they ate their dinner, they laughed and joked together, their light banter giving more cause for laughter; so much that Eliziya held her stomach because Kyp's silly jokes gave her aches.

Just the sight of her laughing so carefree made Kyp feel wonderful.

Eventually, Eliziya cleared up the table and came back from the kitchen holding a bowl of dessert in her hands.

"This stuff here…it's heavenly." She said as she sat back down, setting the bowl in the center of the table.

"I see chocolate." He indicated to the cream that covered the redberries. "And lots of it."

"Of course."

"I take it you like chocolate."

"Like you wouldn't believe it."

He grabbed a long, silver spoon, scooped up a bit of the chocolate cream and held it out for her. "Well then how about a bite?"

Smiling, Eliziya obliged. He watched, entranced as her lips slowly enclosed around the spoon. It was nearly his undoing when she closed her eyes and moaned. His fingers trembled as he pulled back with the spoon, watching while Eliziya savored the taste of chocolate in her mouth.

"Heavenly." She breathed, opening her eyes with a smile playing around her lips.

Kyp had to wonder if she had an inkling of an idea what she was doing to him…by the Force. A dark, starving part of him felt the need to jump off the chair and drag her into the bedroom. He wanted to hear that moan up close, a whispered sound near his ear to drive him on and push her towards ecstasy she couldn't even imagine.

He wanted her hands on his body, long slender fingers exploring while he kissed her senseless. He wanted to whisper her name while he lay with her, skin on skin –

"Kyp?"

He cleared his throat, forced a tight lipped smile. "Yeah." He barely recognized his scratchy voice.

"You seemed distracted just now."

_You have no idea, sweetheart…_

Kyp took the spoon in his hand again, dipped it into the bowl of redberries and chocolate and held it out for her. He concentrated on her face this time, knowing that if he let his eyes wander lower, he couldn't guarantee for his actions. Eliziya laughed quietly as redberry juice ran down the side of her mouth. She went to wipe it away with the back of her hand but Kyp got up and stopped her by gently holding her wrist.

Walking around the table, Kyp then tilted her head upward and leaned down, swiping his tongue along her lips and catching the drop of juice that threatened to run down her chin. He felt that she wanted to kiss him but he backed off; he didn't trust himself.

Not like this, not now.

Eliziya cleared up the table a little while later. Tension had built up between them, palpable tension, and it was driving her crazy. Alone in the kitchen, Eliziya rubbed her neck and took a few deep breaths. When she closed her eyes she couldn't help imagining Kyp's hands on her shoulders, slowly massaging tense muscles and maybe even kissing the aches away. His fingers curled in her hair while she leaned into him, tilting her head back to capture his lips…

She blew out a breath, cleared her throat. Turning on her heel, she went back to joining Kyp in the living room. He'd made himself comfortable on the sofa, stretching long legs and crossing them at the ankles. His eyes were closed, hands folded on his stomach.

"Are you tired?" She asked gently, taking a seat next to him on the sofa.

He opened his eyes and gave her a lazy smile. "A little."

"Then you should rest. You have a long day tomorrow." Eliziya reached forward and played with a single strand of his dark hair. It bounced around her finger, curling and twisting when she tugged at it.

"It's nothing I can't handle."

"You're being cocky." Eliziya whispered, kissing his whiskered cheek. She lingered, closed her eyes and breathed in his spicy scent. She kissed him again, sliding her lips down his jaw, nipping at his ear and running the tip of her tongue down his neck. He stiffened for a moment but then relaxed on a dark moan that made divine heat spread throughout her body.

"Stop." Kyp whispered hoarsely. She noted how he balled one hand into a fist, as if to keep from touching her.

"Why?" She bit his earlobe.

Kyp sucked in a breath and pulled her onto his lap. His mouth found hers in a hard, fervent kiss and his dark groan vibrated through her skin. The tension snapped taught at that moment, all inhibitions thrown overboard; her hands found their way to the hem of his tunic and when she tugged, Kyp didn't resist. He sat forward and she slipped it over his head.

She took a moment to look at him. Strong, tight muscles underneath soft skin…but there were scars on his arms, a few on his torso. Small ones and larger ones. Painful scars.

Eliziya took her time while she ran her finger along each one. "What happened?" She asked quietly, hovering above a long, jagged line cut into his skin at his shoulder. He turned his head away, avoiding her searching gaze. "What happened to you, Kyp?" She asked again, making sure that her voice was low, almost a whisper.

Kyp hesitated and in the end, he didn't answer at all.

Eliziya made him face her by turning his head with her finger. She smiled at him. "Never be ashamed of the scars that life has left you with, Kyp." She said slowly, reaching to the side and pulling his discarded tunic towards her. "A scar means that the hurt is over, the wound is closed. You endured and it's made you that much stronger."

Still smiling, even though her mind was going crazy over the scars marring his skin, Eliziya helped him back into his tunic. When he was fully dressed again, she kissed him softly and then laid her head on his chest.

Closing her eyes, she cherished this one peaceful moment she was allowed to spend with him. His arms closed around her, giving her warmth and peace while her thoughts jumped all over the place. What in the world could he have been through to get scars in such a manner? They seemed to have been inflicted by some sort of blade but…so many…by the Gods…

"I'm sorry, Kyp." She whispered, fingers curled between his. "Whatever happened to you…I'm so sorry."

For the first time in what seemed like forever, Kyp felt tears stinging his eyes. This woman, this fantastic woman, who knew absolutely nothing about him, was showing compassion of the sort no one had ever bestowed on him before.

He didn't deserve it. And if she knew exactly what he'd done in his life, she'd _know_ that he didn't deserve her kindness.

Kyp wrapped his arms around her and took a deep, quivering breath. "I feel pretty damned lucky that we met." He kissed her temple when Eliziya sat up, shooting him that smile that he would never forget. No matter how things went between them, her smile would always brighten his day.

"So do I." She said, running her hand along his chest, pursing her lips. "You know…I'd like to give you something for your mission. A good luck charm if you will."

Kyp chuckled softly and took her hands into his, gently massaging her fingers. "Worried?"

"I could say _not at all_ but you wouldn't believe me anyway."

"True. Since we've already established you're an extraordinarily bad liar."

"Rub it in, why don't you?" Lightly laughing, Eliziya slid off Kyp's lap and motioned for him to wait. He watched her head into her bedroom, rearranging her shirt by tugging at the hem. Sighing, Kyp sat back and tiredly rubbed at his eyes. He felt like he was being pulled in a dozen different directions. He wanted to do the best he could with the Jedi, he wanted to good by Liz but he knew that it might be more difficult than he expected, he wanted to make sure the mission was a success but above all – he wanted to prove to himself that he was more than a slave to his past.

When Eliziya returned a moment later, her smile made his stomach twist in the most peculiar way. He sat up straight and curiously eyed what Liz held in her hand.

"These are friendship pendants." She said, handing over two long silver chains. At the end of each dangled an oval shaped silver pendant. Within the jewelry, Kyp saw a centered dark blue stone that twinkled depending on the way it was moved.

"They're linked together." Eliziya went on, holding the pendants up for Kyp to see how they seemed to be broken in the center. She clicked them together and the stones in each pendant instantly turned green. "It was a gift. This old woman gave them to me when I was a little girl. She said pretty girls like me need pretty things."

"And she was right." He tweaked her nose with a little smile.

"When the pendants are apart, the stones turn blue. When they come together like this, they're green. But the best part? When the pendants are near to one another, as in a kilometer or so, the stones give off a quiet hum." She came closer, broke the pendants apart and slid one silver chain around his neck. "Consider it a good luck charm."

Kyp didn't know what to say. He'd seldom received gifts, the last time being when Han had given him the cloak the day he departed for the Jedi Academy. But this with Liz…it was different. Because it meant the world to him that she cared so much that she would willingly give out such a beautiful piece of jewelry.

"You'll wear the other piece, right?" He asked quietly.

Eliziya fastened the chain behind her neck, running a finger over the silver pendant and the blue stone. "Yes."

"So then we'll both be lucky."

She took his hand into hers and squeezed. "We'll both be lucky."


	15. Chapter 15

The evening drew to a close when he felt Eliziya drift off to sleep. Seated together on the sofa, his arm around her and holding her tightly, he listened as she breathed slower, as her grip around his hand loosened. She had switched on the holonet for some background noise but neither of them had been paying attention. They'd talked about this and that, about hopes and dreams for the future but nothing too deep, just general conversation to pass the time.

And eventually she'd quieted down. It seemed to him that she felt safe in his embrace, secure. He liked the thought that he could be there to keep her safe. Not that she seemed like the kind of woman who needed a whole lot of protection but simply the knowledge that he could be there for her was quite enough.

Kyp stared at the large flat screen that had been showing infomercials for the past hour and a half. He needed to get some sleep, pack a few things, read through the mission file once more…see if Nikk was behaving.

In all honesty, Kyp would have liked for Nikk to accompany him. He trusted his friend completely and he knew if something went wrong, Nikk would have his back. But Kyp doubted Nikk was up for the job. The man could lie to himself all he wanted but Nikk needed to stay put and rest.

Eliziya moaned softly in her sleep. Kyp glanced down into her peaceful face, studying the straight bridge of her nose, full lips that he loved to kiss, a strand of hair that curled underneath her ear…he sighed and touched his fingers to her cheek. Yeah, he considered himself to be the luckiest guy in the galaxy for having met such a lovely woman.

In her sleep, she lifted her lips into a little smile as if she'd heard the thought that crossed his mind. And maybe she had; he had yet to figure out where her Force potential lay.

There was still time to clear up that mystery. And there was still time to come forth with his past.

One step at a time.

Kyp kissed her forehead and hugged her to his chest. Then he pushed up from the sofa, cradling her lithe form in his arms. Her peacefulness radiated off her in waves, so warm and welcoming that it was difficult to let her go. He walked into her bedroom, switched on the lights with a single thought through the Force. As gently as he could, Kyp laid her down on her bed and for what seemed like an eternity, he couldn't get himself to turn away.

He brushed strands of hair out of her face and smiled down at her sleeping form. Eventually, he straightened and went to leave but her hand suddenly shot out and grabbed his sleeve. Startled, Kyp looked down and was surprised to see her eyes wide open, as if afraid.

"Don't go."

"You should rest." Kyp said softly, getting down onto his knees.

"And so should you."

"I will."

"You know, I've always thought this bed way too big for me alone. There's an empty spot beside me with your name on it."

"Liz –"

"I don't want to be alone tonight, Kyp. And neither do you." Her thumb caressed his hand in little circles as she stared him down. He opened his mouth to protest again but the small lift of her eyebrow, as if trying to challenge him, shut him right up. He was a goner and he knew it.

"Alright." He breathed.

He felt Eliziya watching him undress in the dark. Silhouetted by colorful lights beyond the window, he was certain she couldn't recognize all that much but he caught her grin so whatever she _could_ see, she obviously liked.

He slipped his tunic over his head but left his pants on. Eliziya patted the mattress at her side and Kyp walked around the bed and slid in behind her. Instantly, his arm went over her hip and his hand grasped hers. She snuggled into him, her curves a perfect match to his body. Kyp drew in a deep breath, her scent all but intoxicating.

This was…sublime.

Eliziya fell back asleep only a few moments later while Kyp still lay awake, his mind a pool of thoughts and ideas for the upcoming mission. But eventually he also succumbed to fatigue and for the first time in years, the nightmares left him alone.

Most mornings when Eliziya awoke, she hardly ever remembered her dreams. Sometimes she dreamt of her past, sometimes she dreamt of a happy childhood that had never happened and sometimes she dreamt of a make believe future where all her wishes came true. There were times when nightmares found her but they were easily forgotten because somehow she knew, even while asleep, that it was only a dream and nothing could harm her.

But while lying beside Kyp, snuggled deeply into her pillow and soaking in his warmth, something was different.

The dream that slithered through her mind like a serpent was tinged with absolute hopelessness. She felt it smothering her. She knew for a fact that there was nothing she could do to…to do what?

There were dozens of voices, male and female, the sounds of whirring droid motors and their metallic clanks as they moved about. She smelled fire in the dream…she felt heat moving along her skin.

There was a scream that echoed in her mind, so loud that she covered her ears with her hands. Whoever it was, was in a great deal of pain…

The sense of hopelessness almost choked her. She wanted to help but she couldn't.

But it was only a dream…a nightmare. It would be over soon.

Explosions shattered a sky on fire; smoke billowed upwards as buildings were ripped apart by shock waves. Bombs went off and debris and shrapnel rained down upon her and a group of people she'd never seen before, an alien race she didn't recognize.

The screams of the dying made her sick. She looked around and saw bodies scattered on the blood drenched ground. Men, women and children, human and alien. They were all dead, mutilated.

She wanted the dream to end. She wanted to feel the warmth of her bed around her and return to the waking world but the screams, the endless screams kept her bound in place.

"What happened?" Eliziya asked, staring up into the sky as a dozen small air shuttles soared by up ahead, leaving behind a trail of vapor in their wake. "What the hell happened?"

"Help him!"

She turned around as a gruff voice mingled with the screams of the dying. Eliziya's eyes widened. She knew the man. He was family but she didn't even like him so why was he a part of her dream?

"Jensen…what –"

"He needs medical attention! Now!" Jensen didn't see her. And he couldn't because this was only a dream, wasn't it? But as hard as Eliziya tried to change the scenery, as hard as she tried to make the screams stop and the bodies disappear – nothing worked. The stench of death rose to her nostrils and she forced herself to stay calm. Charred flesh, dried blood – by the Gods, this was a war zone.

"Get him to the ship. See that he's tended to immediately!" Jensen screamed at no one in particular.

Jensen was helping a wounded human man walk.

The sense of hopelessness was so intense, she nearly fell to her knees. She felt dizzy, swaying on her feet as Jensen came closer and she could finally see the man he was trying to keep on his legs.

It was Kyp.

And he was so badly wounded that she barely recognized him.

She woke with a scream ripping through the veil of night.

He was up in an instant.

Kyp switched on the bedside lamp with a short burst of the Force at the same moment he grabbed onto Eliziya. Panicked, she shook all over, tears streamed down her face and her breath came out in ragged little huffs.

He held her tightly against his chest. Her fingers dug into the bare skin of his shoulders; she was trying to get herself back under control and he could sense her surprise, her shock and fear as if it were his own. He opened himself fully to the Force, soaking in her emotions and wrapping her in a blanket of calm.

Kyp knew firsthand how awful the first few moments could be after having a nightmare. Whatever Eliziya had seen, it had shaken her up so badly, that even after several minutes, she was still trembling.

"It's okay, sweetheart." He whispered, gently stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head. "It's okay." Her tears were warm against his skin, tickling as they pearled down his chest. Eliziya curled up in his embrace, blindly grasping for his hand. "I'm here, baby, I'm here. Shhhh…it's okay." The words tumbled out of his mouth, words he'd desperately wanted to hear every time the nightmares made him relive his life, relive what he'd done. At least he could be there for Eliziya when she needed him.

And he wanted to be there for her, through all the bad stuff and all the good stuff. She squeezed his hand tightly, as if making sure he was real. He sensed her confusion, he sensed her fear and anxiety. "You're going to be okay, baby. I'm right here. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, alright?"

A sigh escaped her lips and she frowned.

Now what the hell had that been about? She'd screamed like a kriffing girl, for crying out loud…

With her head on his Kyp's chest, Eliziya bit her lower lip and suddenly had the ever growing need to hide lest humiliation devour her and vomit her back out. She'd had so many different kinds of dreams before and she'd never woken up screaming like a banshee before.

But that was due to the fact that, mostly, she couldn't remember her dreams. This one, she remembered clearly, with every tiny little detail.

She could still taste the smoke on her tongue, still smell death as if it hovered right above her head, just waiting to strike.

"How are you feeling?" Kyp asked softly.

Eliziya sighed. He'd been running his hand through her hair for the past hour and it calmed her. "Like I had a horrible dream and it shook me the hell up." Slowly, she pushed away from him and gave him a smile. Or rather half a smile because somehow, she couldn't gather the strength for more. "Thank you, Kyp."

He touched the pad of his thumb to her lip and then slid his fingers to her cheek. Eliziya turned her head, kissed his palm and his wrist. "Thank you for…helping me."

He smiled at her, just a small lift of his lips, but enough to make her feel a lot better. "I guess I gave you quite a scare, huh?"

"Heart attack was more like it."

Eliziya turned away as a blush rose into her cheeks. He squeezed her hand, gently caressing her knuckles. Sitting up against the wall, Kyp pulled her towards him and she comfortably settled in his warm embrace.

It was still dark outside, still early in the morning. Sleep was unthinkable and Eliziya was afraid to even attempt it. The dream…what if it came back to haunt her?

She could gladly do without.

"I dreamt that you got hurt." She said softly. "And my brother-in-law, Jensen, was there."

"What?"

Eliziya sat up at the sharp tone she detected in his voice. A frown creased her forehead. Kyp's expression was one of surprise but there was something else there that she couldn't quite recognize.

"Tell me about your dream, Eliziya." He said, his voice low and gravelly.

She swallowed. "I'd rather not go into details."

"Please." He leaned forward and took her hands into his. "I need to know."

Holding a steaming mug of caf in his hands, Kyp stared through the window and saw nothing at all. Absent mindedly, he heard the shower running in the fresher. Eliziya had needed a little time for herself but when he'd suggested leaving, she'd refused to let him go. She'd actually gone as far and had him swear on the Force that he'd still be there, in the same spot with his mug of caf when she was finished showering.

He smiled, tasting the almost scalding hot bitter liquid and loving it. Kyp closed his eyes, reached up to his neck and rubbed tense muscles. Eliziya had reluctantly told him about her dream and he'd been distracted ever since. As much as she believed that it was only a nightmare because she was worried about him, Kyp knew better.

It wasn't a coincidence that she'd dreamt about Jensen, the young man whom Kyp was supposed to rescue. Had the Force sent her a vision? Was the Force warning him that if he went alone, he was going to get hurt?

He blew over the rim of his mug while he watched a speeder descend into a lower lane too quickly. It collided into another vehicle. An everyday occurrence on such a large world, nothing out of the ordinary in the grand scheme of things but for the individuals in the speeders, it might well be a life changing thing.

He sighed. He hated when the Force worked in ways that unsettled him. Why not send him the vision? Why make Liz deal with a nightmare that would haunt her for days to come?

Kyp turned away from the window when he heard the door to the fresher open. Eliziya stepped out with a long white towel wrapped around her chest and her wet hair bound back tightly with thin rubber band. Kyp set his mug of caf on the table, afraid that he would spill it because he was awkwardly nervous all of a sudden.

"You're still here." She said, walking towards him while gripping at the front of the towel to keep it from falling to the floor.

"Of course. I said I would be."

"Yes. You did." Only a step away, Eliziya tilted her head back to get a better look at his face. Kyp took her hand in his, his heart aching that he had to leave soon. He wanted to tell her that her dream was more than she thought, that Jensen was the reason why he was going, that Kyrian had asked the Jedi for help…but was it his place to do so? To make her worry for him even more?

The answer was simple.

He had no right to put her into a situation that she couldn't control.

He would say nothing.

Kyp took her free hand and pulled her closer. He lowered his head, eyes locked on hers and memorizing the look of pure adoration. What in the world had he done to deserve such a wonderful woman?

He kissed her. A nip at her lower lip, as if asking for permission to continue. He waited, one heartbeat…two heartbeats…she returned his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck.

The towel fell to the floor in a flourish, pooling around their feet but he didn't care. And neither did Eliziya. Kyp ran his hands down to the small of her back, splaying his fingers right above the curve of her bottom.

Her moan went through him like electricity; he pulled her closer still, completely enveloping her smaller form in his embrace.

Kyp would never admit it out loud but he was worried. He wasn't worried about getting hurt or about the mission – he was worried about not seeing Eliziya again.

If her dream had truly been a vision…if he went for Jensen on his own…

Eliziya pushed up on her toes. Kyp groaned, a deep and dark sound, as she tugged at his hair, her lithe body flush against his.

He stopped then. Before his senses overloaded, he stopped.

Leaning his forehead against hers, he collected himself and smiled down at her. With a twist of his wrist, he summoned the towel from the floor. When he caught it in his open hand, Kyp wrapped it around her but not once did he shift his gaze from her beautiful face.

"Thank you." Eliziya said, turning around for her bedroom to get dressed.

Saying good-bye like this felt strange. Eliziya smiled through a haze of tears when it was time for Kyp to go. She had no idea when she'd be seeing him again, she had no clue if he'd come back in one piece and what if something worse happened?

Damned that stupid dream.

Standing before him, she took a deep quivering breath, cursing the tears that ran their course down her cheeks. This wasn't a time to cry, this was a time to smile and show Kyp that she was looking forward to seeing him when he returned. With her brow furrowed, she gripped the front of his tunic while he placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. They stood at the door already. It was just one more step and then he'd be gone for who knew how long.

"There's no need to worry." Kyp whispered and then he cracked a grin that was both smug and absolutely adorable. "Anyway, I got a good luck charm, remember?" He said, tapping at the pendant around his neck.

Eliziya tried a little smile but mostly failed. She had no clue why she was so shook up all of a sudden. He was only going away for a few days; it shouldn't be such a big deal. But it was.

It felt as if a dark hand had grabbed onto her heart and was squeezing the life out of it. She'd never feared for anyone this way before and wasn't that just stupid? For crying out loud, he was a Jedi! He knew how to handle himself pretty well, she was sure of it. So why the fear? Why the crushing sense that something was going to go wrong?

"You'll be careful, right?"

"I always am."

"And you'll let me know once you're back on planet?"

Kyp chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."

Sighing, Eliziya loosened her grip on his tunic and ran her hand along the front to straighten out the creases. "Take care of yourself, Kyp."

He leaned forward and kissed her softly. A feather light kiss that was as much a farewell as it was a see-you-later.

With a lopsided grin, Kyp turned on his heel and left. The doors closed behind him, the hiss as loud as a thunderclap in the ensuing silence of his departure. It wasn't just the quietness that suddenly seemed to be choking her but also the foreboding sense that something was amiss.


	16. Chapter 16

Kyp was toying with the pendant Liz had given him, its cool metal soothing to the touch, while reading through the mission file. The hangar bay was bustling with activity, maintenance droids going about their business on various craft while personnel barked out orders and pilots managed a few last checks before lift-off. Standing in front of his assigned craft – a small shuttle that could carry up to half a dozen average sized individuals – a tingle ran down his neck.

Someone was watching him.

His fingers wrapped around the pendant when he turned around to face whoever was coming towards him. He wasn't the least bit surprised to see Kyrian approaching with inhumanly large steps.

Kyp raised a single brow, tilting his head back a bit to meet Kyrian's eyes.

The man looked like a typical greasy politician, wearing a dark red suit that no doubt cost half a fortune and he carried a black briefcase, the handle connected to his wrist with a pair of cuffs.

And Kyrian had brought back-up.

Goodie.

Kyp braced one arm against the shuttle while holding on to the data pad. He eyed the newcomer with a touch of disdain. About Kyp's age, his entire persona screamed out newbie. Whoever this guy was, he had no idea what it was like out there in the real world.

"Jedi Knight Durron." Kyrian gave a little nod and gestured to his friend. "This is Shaden Zerin. He'll be accompanying you."

There was a slight pause.

"Is that so?" Kyp asked slowly, trying hard not to show the surprise he felt. Eliziya's account of her dream – vision? – was still at the forefront of his mind. And he'd wanted to ask for someone to join him anyway but he'd sort of been hoping to ask one of the other Jedi Knights and not be stuck with a guy who looked like the lead model on a damned fashion holozine. "Having second thoughts, are we? Figured out that you might not be able to trust a Jedi?" Kyp asked with mock politeness.

Kyrian chose to ignore him. "I trust you don't have a problem with this arrangement." He said, his voice as cold and hard as ice.

Kyp smiled. "Of course not." He shifted his gaze to Mister Shaden Zerin and gave him another slow once over. It was rude and of course he knew he was behaving like an ass but Kyp was known for having no tact whatsoever so why start now?

Force…Shaden Zerin looked like he was still a kid with short, shaggy blond hair, blue eyes and a smile that seemed perpetually mischievous. Yeah, the two of them would get along just perfectly.

Not.

Kyrian stepped closer and Kyp raised his brows as the man suddenly reached forward and tapped a finger against the pendant resting against Kyp's chest. "Interesting piece of jewelry." He commented quietly.

Kyrian kept his feelings well hidden. There was no way for Kyp to tell what the man was thinking but Kyp knew for a fact that Kyrian recognized the pendant. It was in his eyes and the way his lips suddenly formed a straight, white line.

Kyp took a step back and tucked the pendant beneath his shirt, letting an air of annoyance creep outward. "It was a gift." He said slowly.

"Really?" Kyrian prodded but Kyp didn't take the bait. After a long moment of uncomfortable silence, Shaden cleared his throat and gestured towards the shuttle.

"I'm ready when you are." He said.

Kyp won the staring match with Kyrian. He smiled to himself before giving a curt nod. "Start prepping the ship." He said to the newbie, leaving no room for discussion as to who was leading the mission. "We'll leave once everything is in the green."

Shaden walked up the ramp, leaving Kyrian and Kyp staring at each other yet again. Or rather, Kyrian's eyes were settled on the pendant hidden beneath Kyp's shirt.

"Is there something else you want?" Kyp asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest, taking a little step forward. It was meant to be a provocative move and he had Kyrian's full attention when the man realized Kyp was closing in on his personal space.

"If I may ask…where did you get the pendant?"

"Of course you may ask. But I won't give you an answer. It's none of your business." He turned on his heel towards the ramp.

"Jedi Durron." Kyrian called. Reluctantly, Kyp stopped but only because there was a note in Kyrian's voice that Kyp had yet to hear. It sounded as if he was worried. "Please forgive my inquiries but my sister owns the exact same jewelry. It's supposedly quite rare, especially given its properties. It is quite the coincidence for you to be carrying the same pendant."

Kyp shrugged. "It's a small galaxy." He said and with a smug smile, he walked up the ramp.

Kyp sat back with his hands folded on his stomach. Shaden sat beside him, fingers flying over the controls, checking this system, checking that system, just to have something to occupy himself with.

Because Kyp wasn't much of a talker. If Shaden asked a question, sure, Kyp would answer. But it wasn't necessarily the answer Shaden was expecting.

So conversation turned out to be quite difficult.

Kyp wasn't interested in talking to the newbie anyway. He closed his eyes and called upon the Force, relaxing back in its warm embrace while completely opening his mind to the universe.

Shaden was one hell of a bright spot in the usually darker plane of the Force. He seemed to be a decent, completely untainted person. And Kyrian had stuck the poor bastard in a ship with Kyp?

Gutsy.

Kyp reached out with his thoughts, hoping to touch Eliziya one last time before they were out of range. It didn't even take half a second for Kyp to find her and when he did, he felt her happiness flow right through him. It was nourishment for his soul.

He chuckled softly, imagining her cute little smile and the dimples in her cheeks.

"What's so funny?" Shaden asked.

Kyp smiled and leaned back some more. He ignored Shaden's question.

Shaden sighed. "Is this what the next two days are going to be like with you? You're…" His voice trailed off.

Kyp pinned him with an arched look. "I'm what?"

"A negative person."

"Really?"

Shaden nodded. "Yeah. You know, there are exercises to lighten the mood. What good is going through life grumpy and angry all the time?"

Kyp narrowed his eyes. "Please don't tell me you're a tree hugger…"

"I don't like that term. It's a derogative form. We embrace life and all its virtues and we respect the living and we try to see things in an optimistic light rather than –"

"You're a tree hugger. Stars, I am stuck on a ship with a tree hugger." He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Could you please stop saying that?"

"Tree hugger?"

Shaden pursed his lips. "We're not very different from the Jedi, you know. You respect life just as much as we do and you fight for what you believe in."

"Sure. But we don't need eco terrorists to make a point."

Shaden shook his head. "You got it all wrong, my friend. Shall I enlighten you?"

"Do I have a choice? You won't shut up short from me beheading you." Kyp sighed. "So enlighten me."

Yet while Shaden prattled on about his friends and their view on the galaxy, Kyp found that he wasn't able to listen. All Kyp could think about was returning home as soon as possible and wrapping his arms around Eliziya.

_One week later…_


	17. Chapter 17

He whispered words of endearment, warm breath touched her skin and when he kissed her, right behind the ear, she softly sucked in a breath and arched into his lean body. Her fingers dug into his spine, nails biting into sun kissed skin and leaving behind little crescent shapes in his back.

He breathed her name when he slipped his fingers through hers, squeezing tightly. His voice, dark and gruff, colored with barely controlled passion, her name was like a chant on his lips. Eliziya closed her eyes, reveling in the feel of him, his skin on hers, her mind one with his. Holding her tightly, he sat up and pulled her onto his lap, her hands going through his thick dark brown hair, strands of it curling around her fingers.

His arms encircled her while she kissed him. But then he pulled back suddenly, a pained hiss replacing the loving words he'd spoken just seconds earlier.

Eliziya watched in horror as the man she loved literally fell apart.

His skin burned from his bones, inch after inch of black cauterized flesh oozing away. It was like acid eating him up, leaving behind nothing of the man he used to be.

When there was only a charred skeleton left, a mockery of the man, Eliziya woke up.

"Are you okay? You don't look too well."

Eliziya forced a little smile and waved the question away. Her boss, Adalia, was a kind elderly woman but maybe a little too curious for Eliziya's taste. "Yeah. I'm okay."

"Well, you don't look okay. Haven't been sleeping well, have you?"

Eliziya didn't answer. For the past few nights she'd been visited by nightmares of the kind she'd never experienced before. The dreams seemed so damned real and left her wondering if she was losing her mind. Each dream made her feel like she was losing Kyp, that something had happened to him. But the moment she opened her eyes…well, they were only dreams.

Dreams that shook her to the very core of her being. There were only so many times she could watch Kyp die without fearing for her sanity.

Eliziya gestured towards the data pad Adalia had clamped in her hands. "Got something for me?"

"Yes." Adalia breathed, shaking her head. A shock of thick red hair bounced around her shoulders when she handed Eliziya the pad. "It's a typical domestic violence case." She said slowly, as if carefully choosing her words. "The mother and daughter will be here later this afternoon. I'd like for you to sit in and observe."

"Alright. What about the father?"

"He's the one in the med center."

Eliziya's brows shot up. She leaned back in her chair, absent mindedly going for the pendant around her neck. "Who's the abuser?" Eliziya asked. "The mother or the daughter?"

"That's what we need to find out because they don't have their stories straight. Coruscant medical reported them twice already."

"Well, this should be interesting." She quickly read through the first paragraph of the file when she suddenly felt an odd tingling going through her skin. At first she didn't think anything of it; she was on edge anyway, jumpy as hell and frightened for a man she barely knew.

She looked down to the pendant and jumped to her feet.

The stone had changed color.

Gaping at the piece of jewelry, she could hardly believe what she was seeing. Sure, the woman who'd given her the pendants had said that they truly worked but Eliziya had never believed her. It didn't make sense unless there was magic involved and magic flat out didn't exist.

But the stone was green…Kyp was back.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Adalia asked. "You're acting a bit strange."

"I…um…yes. I'm fine." She ran a hand through her hair and forced a smile. "I'll read through the files and I'll meet you in your office this afternoon?"

Adalia nodded. "Try not to be late."

"Of course."

When Adalia left, Eliziya shoved the data pad aside and walked up to the window. She gripped the pendant in a tight fist, trying her best not to get her hopes up. If she could trust the stones, Kyp was back.

A smile blossomed on her face. It had been a week since last she'd seen him. A week in which she had daydreamed about what to say when they finally met up again.

Now it was only a matter of time before he called on her.

Smiling to herself, she went back to work.

Two days later, Eliziya was sick with worry. The stone in the pendant was still green. So maybe the thing didn't work. Maybe Kyp wasn't even back yet. Or maybe he _was_ and he'd just lost interest. Maybe he didn't want to see her anymore.

It was the kind of thing that always happened. Good looking guy simply out for a good time before work takes over his life again.

Of course, it would sting like kriff but…yeah, maybe he really didn't want to see her anymore.

Curled up on the sofa, Eliziya cradled the pendant in her hands, running a finger along the length of the silver chain. The thought that he didn't want to see her again hurt so badly, that inwardly she cringed. It was silly, really. She hardly knew the guy and honestly, he was pretty secretive so who cared if he'd come look for her or not?

Oh, but she cared alright.

She wanted to know his reasons. She deserved that much at least.

"Are you okay out there?" Eliziya whispered, suddenly too tired to fight tears. "Tell me where you are. Let me know if you're okay."

She waited another full day.

It had been pretty simple to find out where Kyp and Nikk had had their temporary quarters. Nikk had used his name to register with the building authorities and there weren't too many humans who fit his description. Even though Eliziya had only seen him once, she'd never forget his face. Especially those blue eyes that seemed to be able to look right through you.

When she finally arrived at the building, it was to find out that Nikk had moved out days ago.

But she wasn't going to let this bit of news shoot her hopes to pieces.

Sitting behind the controls of her wretched speeder, Eliziya was stuck in a traffic jam when her mind suddenly zoned out. It wasn't the first time she caught herself daydreaming. It had actually been something of a hobby when she was younger, imagining meeting up with Prince Charming and living out a happily ever after.

As an adult, daydreams had become scarce. And the one she had while seated in her speeder was horrible and gruesome, and so real it was like she was right there.

She saw Kyp in a burning wreckage, a shuttle dented and twisted, unrecognizable. There were two people with him, an unknown blond man and Jensen and he was helping Kyp. Because Kyp was hurt, badly burned.

Eliziya snapped back to reality with a little gasp.

The traffic jam had dissipated and angry speeder drivers were already cursing at her. She gave an apologetic wave in the rear viewer.

Her fingers shook as she handled the controls. Breathing in and out as controlled as she could, Eliziya fought stinging tears but she lost. She started to cry while she headed to the temple complex the Jedi were using as their own.

And her tears hadn't stopped when she finally arrived.

Hoping that she looked halfway decent, Eliziya stepped into a grand foyer of the sorts she'd never seen before. There were tall pillars at each side of a carpeted walkway, gleaming as sunlight fell through floor-to-ceiling windows that spanned the entire length of one wall. It was a majestic sight befitting Kings and Queens ruling a planet. But the young man seated behind an enormous desk in the foyer was certainly no royalty.

He wore traditional Jedi robes and had his dark blond hair pulled back into a braid. His eyes were a lovely brown color yet hard and earnest, totally wrong for such a young person. The man seemed agitated, irritated and it showed in the way he sat with a rigid spine and how he hacked at a data pad with his finger.

Sighing and knowing that this man was going to be difficult to get along with, Eliziya approached slowly. She hurriedly wiped her cheeks again, hoping that it wasn't too evident that she'd basically been crying her eyes out.

"Excuse me?" She asked slowly, putting on what she thought was a kind smile. "I was wondering if you could help me?"

The man looked up but he didn't smile and he sure as hell wasn't polite. "Whatever it is that you want from the Jedi, you're going to have to go through official channels. We don't jump every time a lost soul is at our doorstep."

Eliziya took a calming breath and brought back to mind all the exercises she'd learned over the years, especially those that dealt with petulant brats like the young man seated behind the reception desk.

"I don't need Jedi assistance." She said, folding her hands in front of her. "I'm looking for a friend. I was wondering if he's returned."

For the first time, the young man finally met her eyes straight on. "Does this look like a hotel to you?"

Eliziya was close to grabbing him at the scruff of his neck and punching him in the face. "How about you just answer one damned question without being a kriffing brat about it?"

The man got to his feet and smiled. She sensed that he thought himself superior. So yeah, maybe he was a Jedi Knight, maybe he could use the Force and do a bunch of superb things but it didn't give him the right to treat others as if they were below him.

"I can have you removed."

"And I should care because?"

"You have no business here."

"I do." Eliziya narrowed her eyes. "The sooner you answer my question, the sooner I'll be gone."

Maybe.

The man quietly laughed. "I'm not at liberty to give out information concerning Jedi."

Eliziya's heart rocketed and she stepped forward, ready to plead and beg if she had to. "All I need to know is if one of your Jedi Knights is back on planet. His name's Kyp –"

"Durron?" The man asked with raised brows. "Why in the world would you want anything to do with the likes of him?"

Bristling, Eliziya quietly counted to ten. She cleared her throat, fisted her hands. "Is he here or not?" She bit out, feeling like her thin little thread of patience was about to snap.

And whoever this Jedi secretary was, he was enjoying keeping her at a distance. He smiled. "As I've already said, I'm not at liberty to say."

Eliziya folded her hand around the pendant, squeezing until the dull edges bit into her skin. Maybe the little stings would bring her back to a decent state of mind because the way things were going now she was a hairbreadth away of shoving her fist into this idiot's face.

"Please." She said, forcing the word through gritted teeth. "All I need to know –"

"I'm sorry. I can't help you. As I've said before, you have to go through official channels for any information concerning the Jedi." He shrugged. "If you're lucky, it might not even take more than a few days for someone to get back to you."

Eliziya had stopped listening. She turned away from the Jedi idiot and closed her eyes, concentrating on the pendant in her hand. It was the only thing she had that linked her to Kyp. The stone was still green. "Where are you?" She whispered. "Tell me where you are."

Eliziya sucked in a breath as her skin tingled where it touched the pendant. It was said that when the other piece of the pendant was somewhere close by, they would start to hum, like a call to the other half.

She whirled around and stared at the Jedi. There was a door behind him, a huge set of double doors activated by wall controls. If only she could make it to the door without the Jedi using the Force on her.

"I really don't like you." She said, lifting her head upward and meeting security cams hovering several feet in the air. "I need help and you're sending me away." She met the Jedi's gaze with a frown. "Jedi don't send people away when they need help." She hissed at him, eyes narrowed. "All I want is information."

"And information is what I am not allowed to give."

Had he not smiled, maybe Eliziya would have shrugged and tried to find another way. But it was the grin, the self satisfying smirk that rubbed her the wrong way on so many different levels. Before she could stop herself, she pulled the Jedi towards her by grabbing the scruff of his neck and landed a quick punch on his nose.

Even as a Force user, he was only human. He stumbled back, stunned, which gave Eliziya the means and time to hurry to the door behind him. She slapped the controls, the doors opened and she ran.


	18. Chapter 18

The Jedi Healing Ward resembled an ordinary Medical Center in every way. The only difference were the skilled Jedi Healers using the Force to heal injuries. Generally, there weren't any major wounds that needed to be treated. Sprained muscles, broken bones, sometimes even light burn wounds from practice lightsabers but the big stuff? Hardly ever happened.

But when it did, it shook up the Jedi community.

Jedi Knight Nikk Vox stood facing a transparasteel cubicle, arms folded across his chest. He hadn't moved from his spot in hours. His legs hurt, his back hurt but he didn't care. What he cared about, what he wanted, was for his best friend to wake the hell up.

Quarantined within the cubicle, Kyp lay on an exam table with a scanning droid hovering above him. Every thirty minutes, a wide blue beam of light would run over his body and send the latest results to a computer console right outside the cubicle.

So far there'd been no change at all.

Nikk took a deep breath when the droid was done with the scan. Kyp lay unmoving, as he had for the past few days. The burns were healing slowly but at least they were healing; scars that would disappear over time and his hair would grow back too.

Nikk smiled.

If Kyp could see himself now, he'd undoubtedly freak out due to the lack of hair on his head. The fire had devoured it along with thirty percent of his skin. It had truly been a run against time.

He'd barely made it.

The only hurdle now was for him to wake up. He should have been conscious already.

The fact that he wasn't had everyone worried. The Healers had tried to connect with him through the Force, even Master Skywalker had tried, but Kyp's natural blocks were so strong that no one was able to get through to him.

"Wake up, you stubborn bastard." Nikk whispered.

He didn't.

* * *

She had no idea where she was or where she was headed. And the sound of approaching footsteps from behind didn't make her feel any better either.

"Stupid, stupid idea." Eliziya muttered, hurriedly jumping into a little alcove and waiting for the footsteps to reside.

By the Stars…she'd weaseled her way into the kriffing Jedi temple!

On the verge of having a hysterical breakdown, Eliziya clutched the pendant tightly in her hand and took a few deep breaths. Quietly the little piece of jewelry hummed in her grip so she knew she was close.

"I hope you really work and I'm not losing my mind." She muttered, peeking around the corner and straining to hear if anyone else was approaching. Deciding that it was safe to go on, she snuck out of her hiding place and headed for the nearest turbo lift.

Once inside, the only problem she had was deciding where to go.

Up or down?

"Stupidest thing you've ever done…" She whispered, hitting a button to at least shut the doors.

Eliziya closed her eyes and focused. She held on to the pendant, running her fingers along the controls of the lift embedded in the wall. Trying to calm herself, trying to clear her mind, she simply pressed a button and hoped that it was the right one.

What better way to go than by sheer luck in a situation where strategic and tactical thinking got you absolutely nowhere?

* * *

"You should rest."

Nikk bit down on his teeth and shook his head. "No."

Cilghal laid a thick hand on his shoulder and squeezed slightly. "You're no good to us this way. When he wakes, I will let you know."

Nikk shrugged her hand away, took a step back. He was so angry he could barely keep himself under control. Angry at Kyp for getting hurt, angry at the universe for letting it come so far…Force, it just wasn't fair.

A mirthless laugh got stuck in his throat as he thought about fairness. Yeah, life had a way of throwing big fat stones in your way and fairness had absolutely nothing to do with it. Kyp was just getting his life back together, he'd finally met a girl and now he was laying on his back fighting for his life.

Nikk ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes. Force, he was tired.

"You've been awake for nearly thirty hours. You need to rest."

"I don't want to leave him alone."

The Mon Cal Healer gave him an equivalent of a smile. "We are never alone, Jedi Vox. Never are we alone."

Sighing, Nikk nodded and with one more look towards his friend, Nikk turned around and headed for the exit.

* * *

It was another corridor. Exactly like the one she'd been in before.

Eliziya stepped off the turbolift and simply stared down the hall, wondering if the entire Jedi temple was built this way. She decided then and there that she didn't like the temple. It felt cold and it was too much of a pompous display for her taste. It made the Jedi seem like they thought themselves better than the rest of the universe.

A chorus of voices came from a side corridor. Eliziya ran as fast as she could, hoping that there was a doorway she could jump through to hide. But the longer she ran, the more her hope faded.

It was truly only a very, very long corridor.

She came to an intersection; it was either left or right.

"How about some signs, people?" She muttered under her breath, turning left when the voices behind her got louder.

And that's when the alarm sounded.

Nikk frowned and stopped walking as the alarm blared through the temple. Ever since he'd been with the Jedi, he'd only twice heard the alarm and both times it had been because an intruder had found his way into the temple.

Within seconds Jedi functioning as security guards ran through the corridors, lightsabers still clipped to their belts but they held blasters in their hands.

They passed Nikk without so much as a glance, opening doors, peering down side hallways.

Definitely looking for someone.

Nikk kept going, taking a right turn while rubbing burning eyes.

He stopped moving altogether when he heard his name.

Nikk turned around and gaped like an idiot when he saw Liz hiding in a corner. She frantically waved him over and when Nikk was satisfied that no one was watching him, he joined her in a shadowed little alcove. "What are you doing here?"

"Kyp's back, isn't he?" She asked.

"The alarm…you're the intruder?" He asked with raised brows. "How'd you get in?"

"I punched the idiot in the nose who wouldn't give me answers."

Nikk laughed. "Go Liz."

"Nikk…is Kyp okay?"

He took a deep breath and searched his brain for the best words to tell her that Kyp was not okay, that he was teetering on the brink of life and death. He looked away, closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. He couldn't bear the look on her face…shock mixed with hope and despair.

"Please…Nikk…he's okay, right?" She asked, a single silvery tear running down her cheek.

As much as most people thought Nikk to be a cold hearted bastard, as much as he took pride in his reputation to not give a rats ass about other people, he couldn't find the words to tell this woman that Kyp might well be dying.

It would hurt her and it would make the situation far too real for him.

"Come with me." Nikk said, taking her hand and leading her to the Healing Ward.

Eliziya's fingers trembled, even as Nikk tightened his grip around her hand. It had been in his eyes, the answer she sought, the answer she was afraid of hearing.

Something had happened to Kyp. She now knew it with such certainty, that it made her sick to her stomach. And wasn't that just strange? The worry she carried for this man was beyond anything she'd felt before.

The sound of Nikk's footsteps brought her back to the here and now and by taking deep, controlled breaths, Eliziya thought she could quiet the wailing voice inside her mind and stop the images of red hot fire assaulting her. The dreams were still vivid and sometimes she thought she could smell charred flesh, sometimes it was like she could reach forward and touch what the fire had consumed.

_Get yourself together, dammit!_

She felt like crying. She felt like stopping and dropping to her knees. She wanted to stop time and get a grip on her fear before she went on because…Stars, deep down inside she knew that when she saw Kyp, unconscious and hurt, something would snap.

Something would forever change.

When Eliziya noticed that Nikk had turned towards her, she put on a little smile and gestured for him to go on. Now was the time to be a big girl and face her fear head on. Crying would get her absolutely no where.

_Be strong. Show them how strong you can be… _

Eliziya jumped when a group of armed Jedi approached them. Maybe it was the fact that they carried lightsabers as well as blasters that made them seem rather intimidating even though they looked like average beings on an average day. They greeted Nikk with a curt nod and seeing how he held her hand, they ignored her.

Sometimes it was grand to be invisible.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Eliziya walked as close to Nikk as she could without tripping him. While they walked, she tried paying attention to their surroundings but everything looked the same.

They passed through another door and it was the smell that got to her first. It was like running against a wall headfirst. She had to stop to take a few deep breaths, trying her best to ignore the putrid stench of bacta that stuck to the air she tried to suck into her lungs. It was eerily quiet with medical droids tending to a few wounded individuals. When Nikk led her deeper into the Healing Ward, tears that she'd tried her best to hold back, ran along her cheeks. It was as if she felt that she was getting closer to seeing Kyp and the closer she got, the more it hurt.

A row of exam tables with machinery at each bed side, the back held half a dozen bacta tanks, there was medical personnel hurrying back and forth and Eliziya saw an area packed with all sorts of shelves stacked with medication.

Nikk stopped suddenly.

Eliziya shot him a questioning look but all he did was stare straight ahead, standing rigidly, unmoving. "Nikk?"

"He's badly wounded, Liz." He said slowly and finally met her eyes. "I thought I should warn you."

She nodded and let go of his hand. When he passed her to lead the way further, she called out. "I dreamt of him." Clearing her throat, Eliziya saw images of her dreams soaring through her mind. "Nightmares. Every night since he's left. I dreamt…that he got hurt. There was always fire involved." She swallowed, afraid to utter her next words. "He's…" She couldn't say it. If she said out loud that he was burned, it would be too real. "There was fire, wasn't there?"

Nikk's voice was a hoarse whisper. "Come on."

Eliziya followed him further into the depths of the Healing Ward and with each step she took, more adrenaline rushed through her system. Jedi were staring at her, some were pointing and whispering but she paid them no attention.

A stranger in their midst…maybe they could hear her thoughts, maybe even read her mind. Undoubtedly, they knew she wasn't one of them.

Her gaze straight forward, Eliziya frowned when Nikk suddenly stopped before a row of clear boxes about three times three meters in diameter. There was a medical screen attached to each box, showing information the Healers needed to check on the patients being kept inside.

These were quarantine cubicles.

Eliziya's fingers shook when realization kicked in.

"He's been in a coma-like state for days." Nikk said, gesturing to the only cubicle occupied by a man Eliziya had trouble recognizing.

Slowly, her legs moved her forward but it was an unconscious move. For a moment there, it was like her brain had completely shut off and she was working on reserve energy only. It was a futile attempt to hold back the tears. Slowly raising her hand, she touched her palm to the cool glass of the cubicle.

Kyp's entire upper body was lathered in silvery burn salve. Both arms were bandaged and she could see a growing blood stain just above his left wrist. Some of the burns had already healed, leaving behind pinkish new skin that nearly glowed in the faint light of the cubicle.

He'd lost his hair, his scalp blistered where the flames had touched him.

"Will he be okay?" Eliziya whispered, squeezing her hand into a tight fist. Whatever it took, she had to keep her voice level. She couldn't let herself break down, not in front of all these people and especially not in front of Kyp. She didn't understand the Jedi and their ways with the Force but maybe his mind was still active, maybe somehow he could feel her presence, hear her thoughts.

_Please be okay… _

"His wounds are healing albeit slowly. But he's not waking up. He's locked himself inside his mind and not even Master Skywalker can reach him. We've tried everything but…"

"He could stay like this forever?"

From the corner of her eye she saw Nikk step closer and he shook his head. "No." He said quietly. "Eventually his mind will simply shut off. And his body along with it."

She swallowed and then took a deep breath. "If he doesn't wake up, he'll die."

The moment she said it, it became reality. She'd known death once before. She'd seen death up close and what it did to the victim and to the people surrounding the victim. Death sucked in all the goodness people carried in their hearts. Death broke and shattered things within you that could never be easily mended. The touch of death was relentless and it was closing in on Kyp.

"There has to be something you can do." Eliziya said hastily, wiping tears from her face. "We've got the best medical technology in the entire damned galaxy. There has got to be _something_ you can do for him."

"Liz, we've tried everything –"

"No." She shook her head, clearing her throat and doing her damndest to get herself back under control. "I won't accept that you're giving up on him."

Nikk shook his head, the look on his face mirroring her own. He was worried, afraid for his friend, just like Eliziya. "We _never_ give up on our own, Liz. We've come to a point where we have no clue what to do next. Cilghal is doing everything –"

"How much time does he have?" Eliziya asked softly, turning her gaze back to Kyp.

She heard Nikk take a deep breath. "No one can say for certain."

"Then guess."

"Liz –"

"_How much time does he have?_" She swung around and raised her voice, her eyes depicting the hurt and anger she carried inside of her. "I want the truth."

Nikk shrugged helplessly. "_I don't know_. Days?"

Days…

For the first time in her life Eliziya had felt like life was finally taking a turn for the better. Her job was great, she'd met Kyp and now…he was dying.

Death was waiting to take him.

Eliziya let the tears flow. Nikk took a step towards her and gathered her into his arms while she cried tears for a man who meant the world to her.


	19. Chapter 19

He felt rather than heard fellow Jedi approaching and their intention was clear by the way they loosely held blaster pistols in their hands. Nikk looked up into their faces while he held Eliziya tightly in his arms. She'd quieted down but her fear of losing Kyp was like a palpable force about to suffocate her.

"Jedi Knight Vox."

Nikk looked up, a single eyebrow raised. At least the man had the decency to stay back and keep his voice down. Already other occupants of the Healing Ward were taking notice.

The Jedi gestured to Eliziya with a flick of his wrist. "She needs to come with us, Jedi Vox. She isn't authorized to be here."

"Go away." Nikk said in a low voice.

"The woman –"

"—is with me. _Go away_."

"Knight Vox –"

"I said go! You have no business here."

One of the guards twitched with his blaster and Nikk narrowed his eyes. "I will shove that blaster so far up your ass that you'll be burping it up for breakfast if you don't get the hell out of here!"

They didn't move, not a single muscle. They had their orders, Nikk knew this but he didn't care. He untangled himself from Eliziya and gave her a reassuring smile. He helped her to her feet while she wiped her cheeks from tears. When he was satisfied that she was okay, Nikk turned to the Jedi security and simply shook his head. "She's not going anywhere."

* * *

No, she wasn't going anywhere. She wasn't going to leave the Healing Ward.

Not without Kyp.

While Nikk argued with Jedi security, Eliziya turned to the cubicle. She watched Kyp laying on the exam table, breathing, his heart beating and yet…he wasn't there.

"You need to wake up." She whispered, wrapping her hand around the pendant dangling from her neck. Slowly, she lifted the little piece of silver jewelry and kissed the glowing stone in the center. "I need you to wake up, Kyp."

Taking a deep breath and looking over her shoulder to make sure Nikk was still arguing with security, Eliziya slowly moved to the entrance of the cubicle. She knew what she was about to do was stupid in so many ways but she didn't care. The thought of Kyp alone in that little glass box…it tore her apart. What if the Jedi were wrong? What if he wasn't in a coma-like state at all?

Through the first door came a smaller room where she caught sight of funny looking blue shoes and hazmat suits hanging off the walls. Beyond, was the main entrance to the cubicle.

She took another breath.

It was now or never.

Most of the occupants of the Healing Ward were paying attention to Nikk and the Jedi security. Even though she felt a few eyes on her, she knew she could make it in time before anyone came to stand in her way.

With a little smile on her face, Eliziya slapped the controls to the first door. It slid aside with a loud hiss. She ran forward, attacked the next set of controls with stabs of a finger.

That's when the shouts started. The Healing Ward turned into a hive of activity. Jedi security came a hair breadth away of activating the controls to get her out but one of the Healers held them back.

No one was allowed inside an occupied quarantine cubicle. Once you were in, it would take a while before they let you out.

The door in front of her parted and admitted her inside. The air smelled clean and fresh, tinged with scents all sorts of medications. Slowly, she turned her head to the outside world and lifted her lips into a smile as Nikk simply shook his head. But there was light in his eyes, a twinkle that hadn't been there before.

He walked up to an intercom system and his dark voice floated through hidden speakers. "You know we can't let you out."

Eliziya chuckled mirthlessly. "I never said I wanted out." She paused for just a moment. "I won't leave him alone, Nikk. Not like this."

Nikk's laughter almost made her smile. "He's truly lucky to have found you, Liz. You're an extraordinary woman."

Eliziya didn't comment. Extraordinary wasn't a word she would use to describe herself.

Crazy was more like it.

* * *

Knowing that she was going to be locked inside the cubicle for a little while, Eliziya pulled a chair towards the medical bed and sat down, making herself as comfortable as she possibly could. There weren't very many ways to make yourself comfortable when the chair in question was made of a cold metal alloy. The thing even had sharp edges.

Eliziya sat back, feeling how the Jedi throughout the Healing Ward were staring at her. She paid them no attention.

For a while, she could make herself think that Kyp was only sleeping. He was breathing calmly and his heart rate was normal, indicated by the constant beeping sounds coming from a monitor hovering above the bed. The spherical medical droid zoomed back and forth, scanning Kyp's body regularly, sending its findings to the Jedi Healers outside the cubicle. The droid ignored her.

She wished the Jedi outside would ignore her also.

Eliziya blew out a breath and leaned forward, finally courageous enough to take a good long look at Kyp's injuries. She could hardly imagine the pain he must have had to endure. In her dreams – she wasn't even sure if they truly _were_ dreams – she'd heard him scream, agonizingly loud screams.

"What happened to you, Kyp?" She whispered softly. Almost hesitantly, Eliziya slowly slipped her fingers through his. His hands had barely been touched by the flames but still she stared at his face, looking for any kind of sign that she might be hurting him.

"You're scaring me, you know that?" She said, turning her head away and taking a deep breath. The quarantine cubicle was so empty, so devoid of anything emotional. No paintings, no plants, no nothing. Sure, it was understandable but Eliziya didn't like having Kyp locked up in such a lifeless, cold place. "I want to get you out of here." She said. "But I need your help, Kyp. I can't do it on my own. And if you don't wake up before they get _me_ out of here…" She cleared her throat. "I don't want you to die, Kyp."

She brought his hand to her mouth and softly kissed his knuckles. His skin was rough and coarse, dry. Touching her forehead to their entwined hands, Eliziya couldn't help the mirthless laugh that escaped her throat.

"What am I doing here?" She wondered aloud, shaking her head at the sheer stupidity. By the Stars, she'd not only snuck into the temple, she definitely overstepped the bounds when she walked into the cubicle. And for what?

How the hell could she have possibly thought she could help Kyp recover?

"Sometimes I really should listen to my head rather than my heart." She whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "I miss you, Kyp. I miss you…so much." Gently, she placed his hand back atop the bed but she didn't let go. She gripped his fingers and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and simply imagining another place, a different place, a better place.

She thought of a vast green meadow with a beautiful azure sky and a golden sun that bestowed warmth upon the land. Flowers bloomed in wonderful colors and they smelled sweet, their scent calling for tiny little insects.

She imagined a tall single tree and a blanket underneath the branches that gave them shade.

"I've always wanted to have a picnic." Eliziya said, blinking away tears. "Maybe we could do that sometime." She reached forward and gently ran her finger down his whiskered cheek. "Wake up, Kyp. Please…wake up."

Eventually Eliziya laid her head down beside their entangled hands and closed her eyes. Somewhere in her mind, she'd thought that maybe she could help Kyp, maybe she could save him. It was an absurd thought and she knew it. But hope still remained. If medical technology was at a loss then faith and hope had to take its place.

"Maybe I can't save you, Kyp." She said quietly. "But at least you're not alone. No one should be alone in their time of need."

It was shortly after this that she drifted off to sleep. Which was peculiar because Eliziya wasn't even tired.

And again she started to dream only this time…she wasn't alone.

* * *

"What…what just happened in there?" Nikk wasn't used to panicking. But when he saw Eliziya's body suddenly slump to the side, all alarm bells started wailing in his head. "What happened to her?"

Jedi Knight and senior Healer Cighal punched at the console and directed the medical droid inside the cubicle to scan Eliziya. The young woman sat on the only chair, holding Kyp's hand with both of hers and her head lay on the mattress, as if she'd simply thought to take a little nap. But Nikk knew it wasn't so.

He could feel rather than see that something had changed.

"_Cilghal_…" He said in a sharp tone.

"I don't understand…" The Jedi Healer whispered. "According to scans, she's in the same catatonic state as Jedi Knight Durron."

"What?" Nikk frowned at her, shaking his tousled head. "How the hell…"

"Perhaps it _is_ a virus or bacteria that we have yet to discover. No one else has been affected but so far no one else has gone into the cubicle without protective gear."

"Wouldn't the scans have picked it up?"

Cilghal gave an equivalent of a human shrug. "Not necessarily. There are hundreds if not thousands of bacteria in the galaxy. We do not have knowledge of all of them."

"Can we get her out of there?" Nikk asked slowly, crossing his arms across his chest while he took large steps forward towards the cubicle. He was so close, he could have pressed his nose against the glass.

"I'd advise against it." Cilghal said. "We do not know what we are dealing with."

"Make her more comfortable then." Nikk breathed, a little frown on his forehead. "Bring in another bed if you have to."

He sensed on a level that only a Force user could understand that there was more going on behind the transparasteel screen than some kind of viral or bacterial infection. He felt little tendrils of Force energy between Eliziya and Kyp, a connection being made that shouldn't have been possible…unless Eliziya was Force sensitive.

Nikk rubbed his chin thoughtfully and swung around to face Cilghal again. "Remember back when Skywalker first started the Academy? He had this scanning device that showed whether or not you were Force sensitive."

Cilghal nodded. "Yes."

"Is it here? On Coruscant?"

"I believe so. In one of the storage compartments. It hasn't been used in years. Why do you ask?"

Nikk turned back to the cubicle. "I think Liz is able to use the Force. And she doesn't even know it."

* * *

"I'm dreaming." Eliziya whispered, eyes wide in wonder. "This has _got_ to be a dream."

She wiggled bare toes and smiled as warm sand covered her feet. The golden sun shone down upon the beach, its light reflecting off the turquoise water. Tall cliffs were anchored behind her and bird-like creatures soared through the air against a clear blue sky. The smell of salt was everywhere.

She looked down her body and pursed her lips. "But it's not _my_ dream." She said softly, plucking at the white fabric of a silky summer dress she was wearing. "Like hell I'd wear a dress…"

Eliziya turned towards the shore where the water kissed the sand in beautiful waves. The sound was amazing. She'd never been to a beach before and it was like nothing she had imagined.

It was absolutely beautiful.

For a long moment, she stared out to the ocean, shading her eyes from the sand by lifting a hand to her forehead. The cries of the bird-like creatures was like music, giving the entire scenery a fairy tale feel.

She raised her brows as she saw a man in the water. It was as if he'd suddenly appeared out of thin air and as he walked towards her with long strides, her heart was like a jackhammer pumping against her ribs.

She couldn't move. She didn't dare move lest the dream end and the man disappeared before her eyes.

It was the way he walked, the way he held himself that she knew it was Kyp.

And he wasn't hurt. In fact, he looked better than ever. Wet hair was plastered to his head, the tips barely touching his shoulders. There weren't any scars on his upper body and she couldn't see burns either.

"You're okay." She whispered, still not daring to move.

Eliziya tilted her head upward when he stood before her. His eyes twinkled in the sunlight, a beautiful, vivid emerald green. Drops of water ran down his chiseled chest and again she made sure that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her – he was okay.

"You're not hurt." Slowly, Eliziya reached forward…and poked him. "And you're real, too."

Kyp raised a brow and smirked. "Why would I not be real?"

"Because this is a dream. Because a few minutes ago, I was holding your hand in the Healing Ward and hoping you'd get better; you're hurt, Kyp."

"Do I look hurt to you?"

"Well…no but –"

He pulled her towards her, flush against his wet body, and kissed her. Eliziya closed her eyes but common sense told her to pull away and she did. "Wait, stop –" But when she pulled back and met his eyes again, she threw common sense right out the window. "Wait…don't stop." Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him back.

Before long, Eliziya broke it off and took a large step back. "No, no, no, no, _no_." She shook her head. "This is all wrong."

"Liz, what –"

"This isn't real!"

"It's as real as you want it to be."

"Kyp…don't you remember? Don't you remember how you got hurt?"

His eyes darkened to nearly black, making Eliziya take a step back. She'd never seen his eyes do that before. It scared the crap out of her.

"Stop saying that I'm hurt. I am _not_ hurt."

The breeze around them picked up, a sudden fierce wind accompanied by dark clouds covering the sky. The cold bit into her skin; she hugged herself, facing Kyp with defiance in her entire stance. "What's happening?"

Kyp shrugged. "A storm's coming."

Lightning flashed along the sky. Eliziya looked across the ocean again when a bolt of lightning struck the darkening water. Blinding white light made it impossible to see anything. She squeezed her eyes shut, turned her head aside blinking away tears.

Several seconds later – it felt like an eternity – her surroundings had completely changed.

The beach and its beautiful turquoise water were gone. Kyp was gone.

Eliziya stood in a small living area, furnished with simple things. The scent in the air was mouthwatering…someone was cooking.

She heard running footsteps coming from a hallway, accompanied by angry cries and curses from two young boys. Eliziya craned her neck to see and smiled slightly while she watched the boys fighting over a toy. They were brothers, the resemblance was uncanny.

The youngest of them…well, she had no problem recognizing him.

Eliziya squeezed the bridge of her nose. "What the hell is going on here?"


	20. Chapter 20

He felt like he was out on a space walk having to wear the hazmat suit. Every little cell in his body told Nikk that he didn't need the damned suit but Cilghal had been adamant. And knowing it wasn't wise to piss off the Senior Healer due to her many talents of how to incapacitate a human being, he kept his whining to himself.

"While you're in there, would you take samples of their blood?" He heard Cilghal's voice over the earpiece.

Nikk turned towards the screen, eyebrows raised. "Do I look like a nurse to you?"

They'd brought in a second bed and Eliziya now lay comfortably and soundly, as if she were only sleeping. But scans showed that her mind was still heavily active.

Nikk pulled a little table inside the quarantine cubicle, halting at the foot of her bed and taking a deep breath. "Does this thing still work?" He asked into the little microphone connected to the earpiece. "I won't shock her or anything, will I? 'Cuz Kyp will kill me if I hurt her."

Atop the table lay an almost archaic device Skywalker had once used to test whether or not a subject was Force sensitive. Connected to a control pack were two paddles made of some sort of crystalline material; all Nikk had to do was scan Eliziya's body with the paddles and a miniature hologram would appear above the power pack. If she was truly Force sensitive, as he suspected, a blue aura would appear around the hologram.

"As far as I know, it is perfectly safe." Cilghal said.

"As far as you know? That's not very reassuring." Nikk sighed. "I'll blame it on you if I hurt her. Kyp respects you. He won't go after you. Me? He'll want to knock my head off my shoulders and play smashball with it."

Cilghal chuckled – at least Nikk thought she chuckled. He could never be sure with the Mon Cal Healer.

Nikk activated the Force detector and took a deep breath for good measure. With both paddles in his hands, he stepped closer to Eliziya. He held them on each side of her body, turning his head to the side as her hologram appeared. And just seconds later, the blue hue of a Force sensitive surrounded it.

"I knew it." Nikk whispered just before the Force detector started shooting sparks and broke down with a slight whirr and a cloud of smoke.

Nikk let the paddles drop to the floor. "I thought you said it was safe!"

* * *

It felt like a home, warm and welcome, so unlike what Eliziya had known as a child. Standing in a corner, as far away from the little family as she could, she watched them as they had dinner together, seated at a round table.

Her eyes lingered on each family members' face; there was something very wrong. Where the surrounding area was clear and vivid, the people were not. Their faces were blurry, as if someone had used a paintbrush to smudge their features. Yet Kyp's face was clear as day.

It was _disconcerting_ to say the least.

The woman, the boys' mother, spoke in a low yet soft voice, but her words were garbled, distorted…_twisted_. Eliziya strained to understand but it was like she was under water, trying to make sense of someone speaking from up above. At times it sounded like she was talking backwards. Nothing she said made any sense at all. Nothing anyone said made sense to Eliziya. Even their laughter was off – the only word she could think of was _reversed_. The sound was all wrong.

From the corner of her eye, Eliziya saw something moving in the shadowy hallway. She turned towards it with careful steps, taking little breaths to calm her frayed nerves.

The hallway seemed more like a narrow passageway. The walls were grey and uninviting and Eliziya had a feeling that it didn't even belong to the home she'd witnessed just moments before. A figure appeared before her, like a flickering hologram with a broken matrix.

Startled, Eliziya took a step back, watching as the figure kept blinking in and out of existence.

"Who are you?" She asked softly, swallowing a growing lump in her throat. Maybe talking to the figure up close wasn't a very good idea, she considered, while at the same time taking a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure she had an open escape route.

The figure suddenly appeared mere inches in front of her and Eliziya gasped, not so much in awe but surprise as she recognized Kyp as she knew him. "You…uh…startled me." She said with a slight smile. "What is this place?"

When she met his eyes, she took step back. Empty eye sockets. It was like looking into a black hole. Blackness. Darkness. Little pits of despair.

_Dead_.

"Home." A disembodied voice – _his voice_ – said, distorted as if a droid had taken over his vocal cords.

Eliziya whipped her head around as she heard an ear shattering scream from behind. Where she'd seen a loving family having dinner together just moments before, now she stood upon a field of war.

Imperial aircraft hovered in the sky, TIE fighters screaming as they blasted homes into oblivion. Fire engulfed what was left of the city while Stormtroopers brutally shoved survivors into transports like cattle. The cries of the survivors tore at her heart. Gaping, Eliziya stood rooted to the ground.

Until she saw young Kyp and his brother being torn from their family.

Eliziya ran towards them, jumping over burning boulders while having to watch a group of Stromtroopers hold on to the eldest brother. He thrashed and punched wildly, fighting for his life while young Kyp was knocked in the head with the butt of a blaster rifle. He lay curled on the ground; his mother grabbed him, held on to him with all her life and reached out for her oldest.

Their fingers touched.

For a second.

Maybe two.

And the veil of the world was shredded apart as the oldest boy was ripped from his mothers' fierce grip.

Her scream, her anguished cries for help, went unheard by the other survivors. No one interfered for fear of their own lives. They weren't the ones with the blasters; they could do nothing but watch as Imperial forces took away their homes, took away their children…took away everything they had to live for.

Rooted to the spot, appalled by the sight that met her eyes, Eliziya could do nothing. Where ever she looked, it was the same scene. White clad Stormtroopers carrying out their orders in a river of crimson and black.

Despair and hopelessness was palpable.

Eliziya wanted to help. She had to do something.

Anything.

Standing by and witnessing all this without even _trying_ to help seemed atrocious. It was a dream, wasn't it? Dreams could be altered.

She would do whatever she had to, to stop this madness.

And who the hell cared about the odds. At least she would _try_.

But as she kept running, bent on knocking over the Stormtroopers with anything she could grab, she found that touching them was a difficulty she hadn't expected.

She grabbed what looked like a walking aid from the ground and aimed at the nearest Troopers head, hoping to bring him to his knees or better yet, knock the bastard unconscious. But when she was in reach and swung the aid at the Troopers head, it went right through his body, as if he were a ghost.

Her momentum spun her out of control and she fell to her knees. Confused, Eliziya sat with a heavy heart. She sucked in a breath in shock as blood coated her legs and hands. Dark red soot ran between her fingers, along the backs of her hands and down her arms. Fighting a wave of nausea, she hurried to get to her feet, slipping in the ever growing puddle of blood that belonged to the man who'd sat at the dinner table with his sons just minutes earlier.

Sitting in the dirt only a handbreadth away from the cold body, she realized that he'd been shot in the face, point blank. There was hardly anything left to define whether he'd been human or not. Maybe he'd had dark hair, like Kyp. Maybe even the same green eyes. Maybe his smile had been kind and roguish and maybe his laugh had been so full of joy that he made others laugh as well.

Eliziya would never know.

She looked around one last time, at the pain filled faces of the survivors of this planet, she looked at the dead laying on the ground and she looked up towards the white masks that had undoubtedly become a symbol of annihilation and destruction to these people.

This…this was so much more than just a dream.

These were memories.

* * *

He could feel her staring at him with her big bulbous eyes. Nikk forced himself not to give in to her searching gaze and kept his focus on the quarantine cubicle.

Nope, he wouldn't back down.

Not even if Cilghal threatened to stick a needle through his skin. He would stand his ground and wait for Kyp and Eliziya to finally wake up from their unintentional slumber party. It was just that simple.

"You should rest."

"I'm in no need for my beauty sleep just yet, thank you very much." Nikk said, crossing thick arms across his chest.

"You will need nourishment soon."

"I'm a big boy. I'll manage." Although he couldn't stop the images of his favorite meals popping into his head; he wondered if he could order take-out…

Cilghal stepped closer and cocked her head to the side. Still, Nikk refused to meet her gaze. "I'm not going anywhere." He said defiantly. "You're going to have to haul my unconscious pretty ass out of here if you want me to leave."

Maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to say, Nikk mused, because knowing the senior Healer, she _would_ knock him out do just that if he took it too far with her.

"I understand that you care for them quite a lot, Jedi Vox. But you're not helping them while forgetting to tend to yourself. You've been here for hours."

"And I will stay here, on this exact spot, for the _next_ six hours if I have to. I am _not_ leaving." Finally, he turned his ice blue gaze towards her and raised a provocative dark brow as if to challenge her. Would she keep pressing the matter? He didn't know, he didn't care.

But there was no way in kriffing hell that she was going to make him leave voluntarily.

They both turned as they heard the quiet hiss of one of the entrances opening. Nikk braced himself as he saw Skywalker approaching. The two of them would undoubtedly never see eye to eye but for the time being, Nikk decided to tolerate the man's presence and actually try to behave himself.

Beside the Jedi Master, Han Solo looked grim and overall pissed off. But the man behind the two caught Nikk off guard.

He was the reason for this entire mess…

Son of a –

Nikk stopped himself and took a deep breath. And then another one…and another one. But the devouring anger he felt at this whole situation wouldn't leave him alone. He had no clue who the politician was but he'd asked the Jedi for help and Kyp had done his duty…and he was more or less dead because of it.

Ever since Kyp had returned, the man had come to see him almost every day.

Yeah, guilt was a bitch.

Nikk rubbed his forehead and took yet another deep breath.

"How is he?" Han asked, giving Nikk a nod. The two of them had hardly ever spoken to one another but Han was family to Kyp.

"There is no change." Cilghal gestured to the computer screen above the cubicle. "His mind is active. And ever since Eliziya entered –"

Everyone turned towards the politician when he uttered a fierce curse and stepped up to the cubicle. Through the Force, Nikk detected shock and incredulity and when he spun around, it was clearly written on his face that he was…well, _displeased_.

"What is she doing in there?" He barked, jaw set as if he were about to pounce them and knock heads together.

Nikk cleared his throat. "What's it to you?"

When the man slowly turned towards him, eyes narrowed dangerously, a darker part within Nikk came alive. He dropped his arms to his sides, meeting his stare head on and readying himself for one hell of a fight. If he had to, he'd mop the floor with the fancy bastard.

"How the kriff did she get here?" He said very, very slowly.

Skywalker stepped up, hands held up in a placating gesture. He exuded calmness but it wasn't working on Nikk. Or rather he blocked it because he wasn't in the mood to be calm.

"She and Knight Durron are friends." Skywalker said. "She came to see him."

"What's wrong with her?"

"As far as we can tell, their minds are linked." Cilghal spoke up. "We're monitoring them both. She's in a deep sleep, an almost coma-like state."

"Wake her." He looked from Skywalker to Cilghal and back again. "Wake her _now_."

Cilghal shook her head. "I do not think that to be wise. Furthermore, I do not think it is even possible."

He came towards the Jedi Healer; Nikk blocked his path in one stride. "Back off, big guy." He said in a cold voice, raising his hand as if to push him away. "How about you tell us why you're so worked up about this."

The politician looked over his shoulder, focusing on Eliziya. Nikk caught a flicker of hurt on his features but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. "She's my sister." He said quietly. "And she has no business being here."


	21. Chapter 21

"_No_." Eliziya squeezed her eyes shut and balled her hands into fists. Shivers ran along her spine as the crimson blood in her palms stuck to her skin like glue. "No, no, no, no, no." The words spilled out of her mouth, a mantra spoken in hopes that perhaps all this would simply stop.

She shook her head, refusing to look at her surroundings, refusing to memorize the carnage she'd seen only minutes earlier. "This can't be happening. This isn't real."

But the sounds and the smells, the fact that she was kneeling in a puddle of dark blood next to a dead man without a face…

"It's not real." Tears pricked at her eyes while she tried to take deep breaths, while she tried to erase the images of a family being ripped apart so brutally. "Just a dream. It has to be."

Would the sounds be so vivid, were this only a dream? If this were only a dream, could she consciously feel darkness lingering about?

Fear took hold of her heart in an iron grip. She had no idea where she was, she had no idea how she was going to get back…_home_?

"Stop." It came out as a whisper at first, barely audible. But then Eliziya took a deep breath and screamed until her throat hurt. "_Stop_!"

Silence.

She blinked away tears and stared in awe as Stormtroopers halted in mid step, their blaster rifles aimed at civilians. A red bolt stopped only inches away from a man trying to escape capture. Once that bolt caught his back, he'd be dead before he hit the ground. Another life snuffed out…for what?

The sounds of the dying stopped, their screams and cries for mercy ceased – everything froze.

The quietness was absolutely lovely. Eliziya forced herself to take calming breaths, she willed herself to think clearly and assess the situation…which she couldn't. How to assess something you didn't understand?

"What is this place?"

She hadn't been expecting an answer but when the deep, sultry voice sounded behind her, she jumped to her feet and immediately went into a fighting stance.

"It's a dangerous place." Kyp tapped his temple with a finger. "My mind."

As Eliziya focused on him, as she made sure that the person she faced wasn't the same man with black pits as eyes, the surrounding area disappeared. Everything melted like candlewax, thick globs of color and matter rising upwards to the fiery heavens. People broke apart like porcelain dolls, pieces scattered about the disappearing ground. Eventually there was nothing left to see.

Nothing.

Only white.

"_What the hell is going on_?" She yelled at him, taking one big step forward. She pushed him, slammed her fists against his chest as hard as she could.

"Hey…_ow_. That hurt." Kyp frowned at her, rubbing the stinging patch of skin. Eliziya pushed him again, hoping for a more active reaction but he did nothing. He stared at her, indifferent.

"Are you done?" He asked slowly.

She breathed. She said nothing. What could she _possibly_ say?

It wasn't a conscious decision to do so but she threw herself at him, arms around his neck and she clung to him with a fierce, almost painful grip. She had to make sure that he was real, that he wasn't part of this twisted new world she'd stumbled upon.

He held her closely, the heat of his body seeping through her skin. His touch was soft, his breath warm as he whispered words to calm her down.

"What's happening, Kyp?" She asked, voice muffled against his shoulder.

Kyp took a step back and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

"I was in the Healing Ward. I was with you, holding your hand and I must have fallen asleep. Nikk said that –"

"Healing Ward?"

Eliziya nodded and frantically wiped tears from her face.

Kriffing tears.

"Yes. Don't you remember?"

The frown that appeared on his forehead was all the answer she needed.

"You don't…you don't remember." She said matter-of-factly, eyes meeting his. "The mission. Something went wrong. You got hurt and –"

"Fire." Kyp turned away, dropping his hands and leaving behind coldness as his touch faded. "There was fire."

"Nikk said your body is healing. But you just won't wake up."

An uncomfortable silence stretched between them. Where ever or whatever this place was, it was impossible to tell time. Maybe they stood facing away from one another for mere minutes, maybe even hours. Eliziya just couldn't tell.

"The Jedi are trying to help you, Kyp. But they said they couldn't get through your natural blocks." She shrugged. "Whatever that means."

"It means I won't let them in." He turned towards her, his green eyes searching her face. "I wasn't aware of…any of this."

"Kyp." Eliziya approached him slowly and laid her hand on his shoulder. "If the Jedi couldn't…get in touch with you…how the hell am I here talking to you?"

"You still have no clue."

"About what?"

He took her hands into his and raised them to his lips. He rained kisses on her knuckles. It felt so real. But was it? How could this be real? How could this even be _possible_?

"Eliziya." Kyp leaned forward and he kissed her neck. Shivers spread along her body…she couldn't find the words to describe how good it felt to be close to him again. Even if it was only a…dream?

"You're Force sensitive, Liz."

* * *

"She's _not_ staying."

Nikk shook his head and heaved a heavy sigh. Talk about major stupidity…

He imagined wringing the man's neck, shaking him until a semblance of sense weaseled its way into his befuddled brain. "_How_ often do we need to tell you? We can't just unhook them! There's _no_ telling what it would do to her _or_ him." It was getting increasingly difficult to keep his voice low.

The politician, going by the name of Kyrian Hunter, stepped closer, hands stashed into the pockets of his fancy looking coat. "You and your merry band of Jedi can go to hell for all I care. _She_ is coming with _me_." He ripped a com link from his pocket and flipped it open.

Nikk, completely dumb struck, took a moment to gather his wits about himself because surely he'd misheard what Hunter had just said…

"Excuse me?" Nikk raised his brows. "Mind running that by me again?"

Skywalker and Cilghal both spoke up at the same time, more or less pleading for Hunter to reconsider. The problem, Nikk knew, was that given Eliziya's current state, Hunter was indeed permitted to have his sister taken to a different medical establishment and there was nothing the Jedi could do about it. Arguing wouldn't change a damned thing.

Nikk snorted and shook his dark head. "So this is the thanks we get for helping you? For saving your brother in law's life?" He jerked a finger towards the quarantine cubicle. "Jedi Durron is _dying_ in there. Do you get that? Do you _understand_ what he sacrificed to help you?" Nikk shrugged.

"Eliziya –"

"She's safe! She's alive! _Nothing_ will happen to her." Nikk raised his voice, balling hands into fists at his side lest he use them to break Hunter's nose for being so kriffing unreasonable.

Skywalker spoke quietly. "Since Jedi Durron's return we've been trying to contact him through the Force. Generally speaking, it is possible. But no one's been able to get through to him. Your sister is the exception."

"It doesn't matter to me."

"You piece of…" Nikk took a large step forward, forgetting all rules and regulations. Who the hell did this bastard think he was? "You're playing with my friend's life here!" He yelled and from the corner of his eye, he saw how other Jedi in the Healing Ward looked their way.

Witnesses…

Crap.

"How do I know you're not playing with hers?" Kyrian shot back heatedly.

"She is perfectly alright." Cilghal said softly, gesturing to the computer monitors. "You may look for yourself."

"We understand that you are worried." Skywalker said, again using the Force to lay a blanket of calm over everyone participating in this pointless argument. He shot Nikk a pointed glare. "Believe me, we're doing the best we can to solve this."

"And plus, it's simple." Han Solo suddenly put in and everyone turned his way as his deep voice sounded. "If you take her away and Kyp dies, I'll come after you myself." He shrugged, as if what he said was the most normal thing anyone could utter. "It's up to you, friend. But keep in mind, when it comes to my family, I don't mess around. I _will_ come after you. And it won't be pretty."

Nikk tried not to smile. But he failed. Being threatened by Han Solo…you had to be all kinds of stupid not to do what the man said.

And Hunter seemed to be thinking the same way. His comlink disappeared within his fist, knuckles white as he gripped the little thing. He was a whirlwind of emotions, torn every which way and when he turned to look at his sister, sadness leaked through his very pores.

"Your sister," Skywalker began, "She made a connection with Jedi Durron."

"I should have known." Hunter shook his head sadly. "When I saw him with the pendant. I should have known." He faced Skywalker with a sad smile. "She gave Durron a necklace with a rare pendant. I knew it belonged to her."

"Are you aware that she can use the Force?" Skywalker said.

Hunter nodded. "I know." He breathed quietly. "I've known for years."

* * *

It took a moment for Kyp's words to finally make sense to her. Eliziya raised her brows. "Come again?" She untangled herself from his embrace and took a step back, curiously eyeing him with a tiny little smirk.

"I take it you're not deaf." He said with a light smile.

Eliziya blew out a breath and laughed. "You know…everything that's happened so far has been beyond crazy. So I'm just going to put this bit of information off and pretend I just didn't here you say I could use the Force. Because that's just nuts." She turned away from Kyp and placed both hands on her hips.

"Liz…I'm not kidding."

She took a deep breath and frowned at him. He wasn't joking. The firm set of his mouth, the tiny little crease on his forehead told her that he was actually serious. As in really, _really_ serious.

"Yeah." She breathed. "Okay. Obviously you've lost your mind so…um…" She blew out another breath. "Can you please tell me how we can leave this place? Because I sort of want to go home."

"Eliziya." He reached for her but she took a step back, suddenly feeling crowded. The whiteness around her, the utter lack of structures and shapes…stars, there was nothing there. She imagined she could walk for days and never get to a destination, never return to her starting point.

"Don't." She said, holding up a hand as if to push him away. "This is too much. I want all this to stop. Now."

Kyp, shoulders slumped, merely shrugged. "If I knew how to stop it, I would. I don't understand what's going on. Liz…the only explanation I have of you being here is that we've connected on a level that…is just so profound, so huge…and I don't let anyone near my head. Not even Master Skywalker can find away into my mind but you have." He took her hands into his, gently running his thumbs along her knuckles. "You have to understand. Only a Force sensitive could do what you've done."

"I don't know what I've done…" She whispered, slowly shaking her head. "I fell asleep. That's all. I'm not Force sensitive."

There was a part of her that knew what Kyp claimed had to be impossible. Force sensitive? Yeah right. But another part, a quiet part that she'd silenced years ago, began to hope that maybe…Kyp was right.

But no. It didn't make sense. She couldn't use the Force and that was that.

"I've felt the Force within you, Eliziya." Kyp said quietly. "You knew when your brother came to your apartment. You knew when I came to you."

"So?" She shrugged, staring at their linked hands, avoiding his gaze. "A lot of people have this…sixth sense. Doesn't have to be the Force."

"Liz –"

"No!" She ripped their hands apart and took a step back while she fought hot tears threatening to run down her face. "No. You're wrong."

Narrowing his eyes, Kyp cocked his head to the side. He watched her, curiously. "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid." Eliziya said hastily, wiping her cheeks dry with the back of her hands. "I want to go home."

"We'll get out of this."

"How?" She snapped.

Kyp shrugged. "I trust in the Force."

Eliziya rolled her eyes. "Spare me the religious crap." She was surprised at the venom she detected in her voice. The anger, that pulsed through her veins...she couldn't understand it. She had no need to be angry especially towards Kyp. This mess wasn't his fault.

Kyp smiled at her. "I'm guessing that throughout your life, you've made things happen. Little things at first. Maybe finding something that you'd thought you'd lost. Knowing when something was about to happen, knowing when friends or family members arrived at your doorstep. And when these things _did_ happen, didn't you find it odd?"

"I am _not_ Force sensitive." She said, her voice dark. "Accept it."

"I can't accept something that isn't true."

"You're just being stubborn. It's wishful thinking."

"Eliziya –"

"If I could use the Force then how come I couldn't –" Her voice trailed off. She looked away, wishing that there was something to see other than whiteness and nothingness. A blue sky perhaps with a beautiful golden sun. She would have loved to feel grass between her toes and listen to animals running about. "Why couldn't I save my brother?" She continued, staring at Kyp with tear filled eyes. "Isn't that what Jedi do? Save lives? I'm not like you, Kyp."

She continued to talk, her brows pulled into a frown. "My youngest brother – I had to watch him die. I won't ever forget how the life drained from his eyes. The hardest part to live with is that it was my fault."

"Liz, I'm –"

"Now, for the sake of arguing, let's say you're right. Let's I _can_ use the Force. Can you imagine what life would be like for me? It would be _hell_. I was raised to _hate_ the Jedi and _anyone_ affiliated with the Force. My family would hate _me_. More than they already do now."

Kyp grabbed her hand suddenly and pulled her towards him. Flat against his chest, she stared into his face, mesmerized by his beautiful green eyes. Was this real? Could all this even be real? Somehow she wished it was all only a dream. Because then she'd wake up and everything would be back to the way it was.

Normal.

_You're lying to yourself._

"What happened to you, Eliziya?"

She shook her head. "Please don't ask me that."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to cry anymore." Her voice was barely a whisper, the words broken as her lips trembled.

* * *

Eliziya's brother, Skywalker and Cilghal had left to have a quiet conversation with one another, which had been a pretty good idea considering Nikk's state of mind. His hand still itched to smash into the politician's face.

He took a calming breath and turned his head towards Han. The older man hadn't said a damned word since the others had left. With his hands stashed into the pockets of his pants, all he did was look at Kyp's sleeping shape.

The monitoring system suddenly beeped.

Nikk hurried to the computer screen and was faced with a bunch of numbers and letters that were gibberish to him. The only thing he recognized was the status of their blood pressure and heart rate. And Eliziya's heart rate was elevated.

"Wow." Nikk said with raised brows. "If I'd have to take a guess, I'd say she's excited about something."

"Or angry." Han said. "Who knows what's going on in there?"

Nikk pursed his lips and stepped back up to the cubicle. Side by side they lay in separate beds, faces turned towards one another as if subconsciously knowing they weren't alone. A single tear ran down Eliziya's face. Nikk wondered what she was seeing, how they were communicating…

He turned towards Han. "I think I might have an idea."

"Go on."

"We can't communicate with Kyp because he's a stubborn bastard and won't let us, right?"

"Yeah."

"But what if we tried talking to Liz? She's an untrained Force sensitive. Her mental blocks aren't as stable as those of a trained Force user."

Nikk didn't wait for Han to comment. He turned on his heel and ripped out his comlink, ready to talk Skywalker down until he gave in to Nikk's plan.

But Nikk didn't even have to com Skywalker. The monitoring systems suddenly started blaring like crazy and blinking red lights appeared on the screens. Skywalker and Cilghal were there in seconds, the politician right behind them.


	22. Chapter 22

Behind Kyp, the white dissolved.

Ripples and waves appeared within until the entire area was liquid. Colors replaced the nothingness, coalescing into vivid pictures that scrolled by too fast to make sense out of anything.

"What's happening?" Eliziya asked, turning around with a frown on her forehead. Fear settled in the center of her chest and it took quite a lot for her to stay as calm as she possibly could. Her head began to hurt with all the images she tried to recognize. It was like she was spinning around in circles, a holovid on fast forward.

"Something's wrong." Kyp's voice was far away even though he stood only half a meter beside her. It was like looking through a hologram. His image faded slowly, translucent until all of a sudden the image split into too many pieces to count. Like bubbles, they floated into the air.

Eliziya gaped and an odd gurgling sound escaped her throat as she tried to keep sane. Squeezing her eyes closed, she began to count backwards from ten. It's what the Doctor's at the med center sometimes suggested the nurses do after critical situations and supposedly it worked.

She'd have to go find one of those Doctor's and swap him in the head next chance she got because it wasn't doing her damned good.

Especially not when everything around her suddenly halted as if someone had pressed the stop button.

The white had been replaced by dark tunnel systems. It was hot and humid, the air stank of something she couldn't recognize mixed with body odor of various beings. There were dozens and dozens of people lined up against the face of one wall, the tools in their hands old and worn. The clinking sound of metal against stone made her wince.

The bluish light cast by hovering droids above made everything look sinister and all around just wrong.

Eliziya whipped her head aside as she caught movement from the corner of her eye. A scrawny teenage boy stood there, wearing a breath mask over the lower part of his face. Tousled dark hair reached to his shoulders and he wore working garb like the others. Even in the bluish light she recognized him. But by the Gods – he couldn't have been older than sixteen!

"What the _hell_…"

It was clear to her that this place was some sort of mining facility but what in the nine Corellian hells was Kyp _doing_ here?

Eliziya stepped closer to him, her hands clasped in front of her. The need to reach out and touch him was all but overpowering but she was afraid that everything would fade away again.

_Memories…_

The voice in her mind, a deep and sad voice, made her blink. Kyp had moved into her line of sight, kneeling on the ground while he went to work on the wall with a small axe. Her heartbeat sped up; all around her there were so many different beings that she knew this had to be some sort of work camp. They all looked haggard and worn, malnourished and overall sickly.

_Memories…_

Was this the place the Imperials had brought the survivors of Kyp's homeworld?

The thought made her sick to her stomach.

A whistle sounded through the tunnel system, along with a deep alarm. Almost at once, the workers collected their tools and shuffled towards the only exit in a tight row. They held on to each others' belts as they made their way through the black mazes, the only light a spherical droid at the front of the procession. Eliziya ran to catch up with Kyp.

He walked with his head down, eyes open and yet he seemed to be seeing nothing at all.

Surely this couldn't be real. He was only a kid!

Eliziya stopped. She watched as dozens and dozens of beings filed through a wide open door into an antechamber where they stopped and waited. Eliziya was too shocked, too surprised to do anything at all. She stared ahead, the sick sensation in her stomach making her shiver. Had this really happened?

Were these truly his memories?

"Mines…" Eliziya whispered, vaguely remember gruesome stories about slave labor camps. "They used you and your people as slaves…"

She leaned forward, hands on her knees, catching her breath.

_Memories…_

Maybe this was just a dream, a nightmare conjured up by too many late night movies on sleepless nights. It didn't seem possible that reality could be so harsh. At least not in her world. Eliziya suddenly felt stupid having complained about her life on countless occasions while others, while these people, were suffering hardships in dark cold mines that she couldn't even being to imagine.

Eliziya followed the men and women into the antechamber and as the door closed, she realized it was a lift. Slowly they ascended.

No one spoke.

As the doors opened again, Eliziya took a large step back when she came face to face with an armored and armed security guard. He looked right through her, though. He couldn't see her because…well, these were memories.

It was still so hard to believe.

_Keep it together…just a little while longer…keep it together_

Everything froze all of a sudden.

There was no sound, no one breathed, no one talked, no one moved.

Kyp had turned his face towards her, green eyes dark and angry, sad. Eliziya stepped up to him and fought with herself because she wanted to touch him, she wanted to comfort him and make the pain that she saw in his eyes simply go away.

"You don't deserve this." She whispered softly, swallowing a growing lump in her throat. "None of you deserved this."

"Have faith, young one." Eliziya spun around, taking a step back as an old woman spoke in a cracked voice. She sat against the wall, huddled underneath dozens of blankets. Kyp sat beside her…

Her surroundings had changed into that of a large recreational chamber with hundreds and hundreds of individuals seated on low benches or cots. Security guards patrolled the area, blaster rifles held tightly against their chests.

"Faith in what?" Kyp asked in a deep voice. It seemed to Eliziya that he'd completely lost hope.

"Your future." The old woman turned to face him. Her eyes might have been a lovely blue at an earlier point in her life. She was almost blind now. "Wonderful things await you out there."

Kyp snorted. "If you haven't noticed, I'm stuck in _here_. And I doubt I'll ever leave this place."

She chuckled softly. "Such negativity. Have faith, young one. And believe. The Force will guide you."

"Yeah. Sure. The Force." He rolled his eyes, pulled his knees to his chest and simply stared straight ahead. Eliziya got to her knees in front of him and reached out to caress his face but her hand moved right through him, as if she were a ghost.

* * *

_Stabilized_…wasn't that just a kriffing superb word?

Nikk knew fear. He'd danced with fear too many times already but he'd held his ground. He'd told fear to kriff off and leave him the hell alone. But this time fear almost won. Nikk could hear its cackling laughter in the back of his head.

Gods dammit, fear had almost won.

Nikk took a deep breath and leaned forward, bracing his hands on his knees. He still had no clue what had happened, what had gone wrong. But watching his friend nearly lose his life inside a kriffing quarantine cubicle…Force, it made him sick.

"You almost died, you bastard." He whispered softly, straightening up to his full height.

"Ready?" Cilghal's kind and quiet voice carried towards him like a gentle breeze. Her voice was a beacon of hope.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Nikk answered, swinging around and following Cilghal towards the cubicle. He'd made blatantly clear that he was going to do his damndest to get in touch with Eliziya and that the hazmat suit was a no-go. Cilghal had started to argue and nearly threw a fit but Nikk wouldn't have it.

This was going to be done his way or no way at all.

"How long do you think this will take?" Kyrian asked quietly. Nikk had seldom seen a paler man.

"Minutes. Hours. Days. Who knows?" Nikk turned towards him, keeping his facial expression as neutral as possible. He didn't like Kyrian. Nikk wanted to punch him in the face and watch as he squirmed for mercy at Nikk's feet…he nearly smiled.

"Will she be safe?"

Nikk gave a curt nod. "Of course, you lying sack of filth." He said with a big smile gracing his handsome face.

From the corner of his eye he saw Master Skywalker shake his head and Han Solo chuckle. Cilghal did nothing at all while she patiently waited for Nikk to enter the quarantine cubicle.

"What the frack is your problem?" Kyrian asked quietly, stepping so close that Nikk could smell his expensive cologne. At least the man had good taste.

"You should have told her." Nikk said quietly. "Keeping her Force sensitivity from her…that's even low for a low life good for nothing politician like yourself."

"You know nothing –"

"And I don't want to." Nikk shrugged passed Kyrian and slapped the controls to the cubicle. He felt Kyrian's eyes on him, sensed that he was angry.

"If you hurt her…" Kyrian began but all Nikk could do was laugh.

"Seriously. I'm not afraid of you. But I _am_ afraid of the man laying in there like a vegetable. If something happens to Liz, it'll be my head on a platter because he'll behead me when he wakes up. You?" Nikk snorted. "There's nothing in the kriffing galaxy that you could possibly do to intimidate me. So you can shove it."

Kyrian's voice was drowned out when the doors closed behind Nikk. Smiling through the thick transparasteel, he turned his back towards the politician and slowly walked into the cubicle.

* * *

The silence was pressing.

The closer he got to Kyp and Eliziya, he could feel through the Force that there was definitely something going on. Their interaction on such an intimate and close level was amazing. Nikk knew for a fact that something like this usually only happened between people who'd already known each other for years and years.

It truly was a curiosity, one he didn't have time to ponder.

Nikk sighed. "Let's this get this over with."

Her throat was sore from screaming out Kyp's name over and over again but either he couldn't hear her or she wasn't making enough noise.

She _could_ make more noise.

Theoretically.

Theoretically, she could pick up one of those axes and hurl it against the wall. Theoretically, she could grab one of those hover droids and rip out its insides because no doubt there would be an alarm. Theoretically, she could do a lot of things to catch Kyp's attention.

Problem was, she was basically a ghost. No one saw her and she couldn't touch anything. So all she had was her voice and even her voice was slowly fading.

Still stuck in the humid and dark mines, Eliziya was forced to watch the workers being treated like lowly slaves. The scenery had changed twice already. She'd seen the mess hall and she'd seen a dark tunnel system that glowed in a feint blue light. She'd heard anguished screams echoing through the tunnels; something was down there and she'd heard whispers that a lot of men hadn't returned from whatever was lurking in the dark.

Energy spiders or some such. A creature Eliziya sure as kriff didn't want to see up close.

Most of the workers looked like the thugs they undoubtedly were but some of them...well, she suspected they didn't even belong here. Thrown in with the scum of the universe because it was convenient.

Kyp was living proof.

"Dammit, Kyp! Where the hell are you?" Eliziya yelled, raking her hands through her hair.

Close to tears, frustration was getting the better of her. Everything that had happened in the past few hours was just too much. She felt like she was trapped within a cage, going around in circles but never finding a way out. A maze, slowly closing in on her, suffocating her. When would it end? When would she finally be free of these memories?

The smells, the sounds and the sight of all this despair...it was inhuman and unbelievable.

And she'd complained about _her_ upbringing?

Compared to this, she'd lived like a kriffing Princess.

"Leave her alone!"

Eliziya whirled around as she heard the frightened call echo throughout the cavern. The voice was low and tinny, laced with fear. The old woman who'd been talking to Kyp about the Force lay on the ground. She was bleeding from a deep gash in her cheek and she was shaking all over, trembling so badly that she could barely hold herself upright. Coughing up blood, she lay huddled against the wall while Kyp, as young and meek as he was, stood in front of her to protect her. He held only a jagged piece of rock to hold off the aggressors, a group of tall and thick men who could pummel him into the ground with one go.

Kyp didn't seem to care.

Sucking in a deep breath, Eliziya felt a shiver run along her skin. This was bad. This was very, very bad.

It looked to Eliziya that Kyp was very well aware that he was putting his life on the line. Maybe he'd lost hope. Maybe he thought he had nothing more to lose and who could blame him? Having to live years and years in a dark place like this, it was a miracle he'd gotten out alive in the first place.

"Testament of your stubbornness." Eliziya whispered quietly.

"Get out of the way kid." One of the burly men said, his voice deep and scratchy. "The old hag gots something we want."

"You'll have to go through me first."

They laughed at him, threw their heads back and laughed out loud. No doubt to them Kyp looked like a tiny little fly waiting to be squashed by their huge big feet.

Ever the hero, Kyp stood his ground with a straight spine. He wasn't kidding. No one was going to get to the woman before having to deal with him.

Only, this wasn't the Kyp she'd met. Here, in this memory, he was still a boy and not a trained Jedi Knight.

Eliziya hurried to his side. Even though she knew there was nothing she could do to help him, she couldn't stand by and watch while they made him bleed. "Stop this, Kyp. Get help. You can't do this on your own."

She might as well have been having a conversation with the wall.

Still, she couldn't help herself. Anxiety had her heart in a vice grip and the more time passed by, the more she knew that this would not end well.

"Please, Kyp. Just grab her and run away. Don't fight them." She whispered under her breath. "_Please, please, please_, just go away."

The first of the men stepped forward, hands already balled into two mighty fists at his side. All he had to do was punch Kyp and that was that. It'd be a miracle if Kyp got up again. The man pulled his thick arm back but Kyp swiftly stepped aside, as if he knew exactly when and where the punch would go.

Hope started snaking its way into Eliziya's heart. Maybe Kyp had a chance after all. The Force was an instinctive thing, right? So maybe...just maybe...

But the next guy came at his right and was way too fast for Kyp. His kick landed in his abdomen and Kyp doubled over. The next guy went to drop his fist onto Kyp's skull.

Common sense lost its grip on Eliziya and she ran between the two. She realized that the man held a jagged piece of rock in his hands. He thrust forward and passed right through her heart.

Maybe this time it was a good thing that in this twisted world of memories, she was nothing.

* * *

"Nikk!"

Master Skywalker's shout made Nikk turn his head towards the intercom. At the same moment, a high pitched warning claxon sounded through the quarantine cubicle. Red lights started blinking on the monitors and half a second later Cilghal barged through the entrance.

Nikk turned towards Eliziya's unconscious form, a sickening feeling settling into the pit of his stomach.

She was agitated. Her lithe body lay ramrod straight, fists balled together beside her legs. Her breath came out in little gasps and her brows were pulled down into a deep frown. To Nikk it seemed like she was in pain. "Oh, this is not good." He said quietly, hurrying to her side.

"Her adrenaline levels are spiked." Cilghal said calmly, going for an inoculation tube. "Whatever is happening, you need to stop it." She pressed the inoculation tube to Eliziya's neck and only a few seconds later, her heartbeat went back to normal and she relaxed. "She's under too much stress, Nikk. She can't hold on for much longer."

Nikk swallowed. "Meaning?"

Did he really want to know?

"If you can't get her disconnected..." Her voice trailed off. She didn't have to continue. Nikk turned his head towards Master Skywalker and Kyrian. Skywalker seemed calm, halfway at ease but Kyrian...yeah, he was about to throttle someone.

"Get them back, Nikk." Cilghal whispered.

Nikk took a deep breath and gave the Mon Cal Healer a curt nod. He'd do his damndest to get Liz back, for Kyp's sake. He wasn't going to lose hope that his best friend was going to make it. His stubbornness would keep him alive, at least until the last medic or healer nearly ripped out their hair in frustration to help him.

Plus, Kyp had so much to look forward to with Eliziya. Nikk had a feeling, and his gut feelings usually never steered him wrong, that the two of them had something special going on, something most people didn't find in a lifetime. So yeah...he'd get them back.

If it was the last thing he did, he would get them back.


	23. Chapter 23

She saw blood on the jagged piece of rock as the burly man took a step back. It wasn't hers of course. In this world, she wasn't really alive. It wasn't her blood. She wasn't hurt.

But Kyp was.

Eliziya spun around. Kyp pressed one hand to a bleeding wound in his shoulder. Blood ran between his fingers but still his defiance was there; he wasn't going to back down and a little scratch wasn't going to make him turn away either.

"Idiot." Eliziya murmured.

The men jumped him. Eliziya moved aside and turned away, wishing she could block out the sounds of fists pounding into flesh, of laughter and Kyp's grunts of pain. But then, and this surprised the hell out of her, Kyp suddenly had the upper hand. He fought as if he'd been trained to do so, knowing exactly which weak points he had to hit to bring his enemies to the ground.

He used the Force to call upon rocks laying about, using them as weapons while he defended himself. Two of the men broke off and ran away after seeing rocks hovering in mid air as if by an invisible hand.

Eliziya had to wonder – did Kyp even know what he was doing? Did he realize that he was using the Force to defend himself and the old woman?

But when she took a closer look she noted a dark aura surrounding him. It was like a black fog laced with threads of violet; anger radiating off his body while he fought. And although she knew next to nothing about the Jedi, she knew that this was a bad thing.

"Eliziya!"

She spun around as she heard her name. The tunnels vanished in a bright white light, hurting her eyes. She turned away as the shouts and screams of the ongoing fight disappeared. Completely alone, she suddenly stood in the vastness of nothingness, with no beginning and no end.

"Kyp?" She called out tentatively, her heart beating like crazy. If this didn't stop soon, she was going to lose her last lick of sanity. "Where are you?"

Eliziya blinked a few times when it wasn't Kyp that appeared before her. Like a hologram, the figure shimmered to life. Two heads taller, broad like a ball player, Nikk smiled at her. "How's it going, sweetheart?"

She collapsed into his arms.

"Please tell me you're real." Eliziya whispered, taking a little step back and staring up into Nikk's face. "You're real, right?" She squeezed his arm a tad tighter just to be sure. "Not just another memory?" She barely recognized her voice. So quiet, so weak…so _tired_.

"I'm real. No worries." He smiled at her. "But we need to find a way to get you back to the real world, sweetheart."

"How?"

Nikk took a deep breath. "I really don't know yet. But we'll find a –"

"_Get away from her!"_

Eliziya jumped as the yell sounded throughout the nothingness. A second later, Nikk was flung away from her. His body spiralled through the air but he caught himself with the Force, and gently landed in a crouch a few meters away. When he lifted his head, Nikk's blue eyes were dangerously narrowed.

"_Don't you dare touch her_." The venomous hiss made Eliziya turn around.

Kyp stood there, one hand outstretched. But it wasn't really him. His usual green eyes were dark pits of darkness and despair. This wasn't the man she knew.

She felt emotions swirling about him. Grief and hurt but at the forefront…envy and jealousy.

"Liz." She heard Nikk's calm voice behind her. "Step away from him."

A part of her agreed that she had to get away from Kyp. Sure as kriff, he was scaring the hell out of her. She didn't know this man who oozed darkness from his skin. A cloud of blackness encased him, his features were angry and it looked to her he was a hairbreadth away from seriously kicking Nikk's butt.

She swallowed.

"No, Nikk." She said slowly. Because the other part of her knew with a certainty she couldn't describe that Kyp would never hurt her. No matter if darkness had consumed him – he would _never_ hurt her.

She took a step closer.

"Liz, stop!" Nikk ran towards her but Kyp raised his hand again and Nikk was flung back. This time, he had trouble getting back to his feet.

"Kyp." Eliziya whispered softly, taking a step closer. "There's no need for this."

"He won't touch you." His voice sounded like that of a droid. "I won't let him."

"He's here to help me. He's your friend. Don't you remember?" One more step and she would be close enough to place her hand on his shoulder. "He's your best friend, Kyp. You've been friends for a long time."

"No." He shook his head but there was a flash of light behind his eyes. Eliziya was sure that she'd seen it. So she went on.

"Yes." She smiled and slowly raised her hand. She had to touch him. She knew that somehow physical contact would make this all go away…"And he's my friend, too. He came here to help us both."

"He came here to take you away from me!" He lifted his hand again. Eliziya heard Nikk sputtering from behind, as if trying to breathe. She was afraid to look.

"Stop it!" She yelled, placing her palms on his chest. "Look at me, Kyp."

Once her hands touched him, she felt emotions soaring wildly about them. He was jealous of Nikk. He was jealous of the universe. Through a connection Eliziya couldn't understand, she saw that the darker part of Kyp envied those who were able to live an average, normal life. He envied those who could walk the streets without being recognized as a murderer.

She frowned.

_A murderer?_

Kyp met her gaze head on and again she saw a flash of light in the darkness. Eliziya lifted her hands and cupped his face. "I'm ready to go home, Kyp. And so are you."

Eliziya lifted herself up onto her toes and kissed him.

* * *

It was like breaking through the surface of an icy pond and filling her lungs with sweet air for the very first time. Eliziya gasped with wide opened eyes. Staring upward, it took her a long time to realize that she was back in the real world, away from haunting memories, looking up towards a bland transparasteel ceiling.

She could smell the sweet fruity scent of the shampoo she'd used that morning. She smelled her favourite perfume mingled with scents so typical for a med room. The coarse white sheets of the medical bed were rough against her skin; the constant beeping sounds of the monitoring systems were so damned loud in the enclosed space of the quarantine cubicle, her ears started to ring.

She remembered where she was, though. She remembered _everything_ that had happened.

Eliziya nearly laughed when she knew with certainty that the memories were left behind.

"Welcome back."

She turned her head towards the deep voice and abruptly pushed herself into a sitting position. Nikk smiled and gestured for her to take it easy. "You're okay."

"I know." Eliziya breathed, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. "What about Kyp?"

She didn't care about herself. There wasn't a single scratch on her body but Kyp on the other hand...well, he looked just as broken and worn as he had when she'd first weaselled her way into the Healing Ward.

Hope snaked its way into her heart as she approached him. Maybe he was awake, maybe he was blinking away tears because the bright light was messing with his eyes. Maybe he would say something stupid to make her laugh. Maybe everything would turn out to be alright.

But he still lay there, unmoving, eyes closed.

Tears threatened to run down her face as Eliziya leaned over him. She slipped her hand into his and squeezed briefly. "Wake up, Kyp." She whispered, running her thumb along busted knuckles. "Please, wake up."

He looked peaceful, lost in a world of dreams. Was he sleeping? Or was he still locked in a comatose state for who knew how long? "I need you to wake up, Kyp." She said more urgently.

Because death would be knocking on his door if he didn't.

Seconds passed in which no one said anything at all. Nikk stood behind her, a quiet brooding yet welcome presence; she felt safer with him around. From the corner of her eye, she saw the Mon Cal Jedi Healer and Jedi Master Skywalker and... – was that Han Solo? – watching from outside the cubicle. She recognized Master Skywalker and Solo from news vids. Eliziya slowly turned their way and had to pick her jaw up off the ground as she saw her brother standing right there next to them.

What the _hell_ was he doing here?

Kyrian looked pale and tired but even in his exhausted state he still looked like the politician he was, through and through. Straight spine, angular features exuded absolutely no warmth at all and his entire persona screamed out _Mess with me and I'll have you convicted for something you didn't do_.

Somehow...she resented him for that. It didn't seem very human. He was way too calm. It was always work with him, no matter what. That he could actually uphold a marriage was a miracle in itself. Or maybe that, like a lot of things, was only a lie too.

Eliziya's heart jumped to her throat as Kyp suddenly squeezed her hand. She spun her head around and a smile blossomed on her face when Kyp's eyes fluttered open.

"Hey there handsome." She said quietly, leaning forward. "Welcome back."

Words failed her to describe how happy she was to know that Kyp was finally awake. And he smiled at her, crookedly with dried, cracked lips but he _smiled_.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "How're you feeling?"

He didn't answer.

He stared at her with such wonder in his eyes, his smile frozen in place. Slowly, Kyp lifted his free hand and touched trembling fingers to the side of her face. His skin was dry, coarse and rough but his touch soft and caring. Eliziya leaned into his caress while a single tear pearled down her cheek. "So beautiful." Kyp whispered.

It had been weeks since last she'd seen that twinkle in his eyes. It was back now and that was a good thing, wasn't it? It had to be. Because he was awake and he was talking so he was getting better.

Maybe life could finally resume and they could start being happy again.

"Liz, there's...something...I need to tell you." Eliziya barely recognized his voice. So dark and scratchy...

"Shh." She said quietly, placing a lingering kiss on his forehead. His skin smelled like burn solvent. How long would it take for his body to heal completely? How long would it take for him to be able to walk again?

She could barely hold back the quiet laugh when she imagined holding his hand and walking out of the Healing Ward together. He could stay at her place for as long as he wanted to, for as long as he needed to heal. And maybe they could talk about this Force thing and she could finally tell him about her brothers. And they could talk about the memories, too.

She still wasn't clear on why he called himself a murderer.

Kyp suddenly had her hand in a death grip and he pulled his brows into a deep frown. "I was dead until you found me, though I breathed." He said quietly, his breathing labored. She didn't like that fact one bit. Worry instantly ran along her spine. "I was sightless...though I could see." He smiled crookedly. Through a blurry haze of tears, Eliziya was trying to find her voice but she didn't even know what to say. "And then you came." Kyp continued quietly, words only meant for Eliziya to hear. "And I was awakened." He squeezed her hand again. "Thank you."

Words were lost as the monitoring system suddenly exploded in a flash of colors and beeping tones. Eliziya's smile was wiped from her face as Kyp's grip around her hand became so fierce, she was sure he was about to break some bones. His body was ramrod straight atop the medical bed; eyes squeezed shut, jaw set as if he were in so much pain he was trying to keep it all in.

"What...what's happening?" Eliziya called out the moment the doors slid aside and the Healer hurried in. "What's going on?"

The Mon Cal ignored Eliziya as she got to work punching buttons on the medical boards.

"Eliziya..."

She looked down into Kyp's bruised face. A single pearly clear tear ran down his cheek as he fought against whatever was happening to him. His breath came out in little gasps, his chest rising and falling way too fast. His lips moved but she couldn't hear his words over all the shouting in the cubicle. The Jedi Healer had brought back-up.

Eliziya leaned forward, fear squeezing the life out of her heart while hope was slowly floating away on a cloud of despair.

"Forgive me." Kyp whispered.

His eyes closed.

And the monitoring system started screaming.


	24. Chapter 24

_This can't be happening...this can't be happening..._

Nikk kept repeating the words over and over again in his mind so maybe, eventually, everything would turn out to be one huge mistake. But the longer he looked, the longer he watched as Cilghal, a med droid and two nurses worked on his best friend, he knew that it was all too real.

That it was all too late.

They were losing him.

And by the looks of things, there was nothing they could do for him.

Eliziya stood as close by as Cilghal would let her, trying to peek over the Mon Cal's shoulder or catch a glimpse when she moved aside. She was nervous, trembling from head to toe as she waited, just like him, for some good news. But unlike Eliziya, he wasn't clinging to a last thread of hope.

He was letting go.

He didn't have a choice. If he didn't let go he'd be sucked right back into that black pit of despair he'd once called his home and he was in no mood for another _hello-how-are-ya_ with that dark part of his mind.

"Liz." Nikk said quietly, slowly approaching the young woman from behind.

She shook her head and he had to hand it to her – she was keeping it together. Strong and in control, Eliziya stood and watched, waited for whatever was going to be the outcome. Ever the optimist, ever hopeful.

Her hand was clenched around the silver pendant that hung on a silver chain around her neck, the same one Kyp had had clasped in his hands when they'd brought him in. It had taken a sedative to pry the piece of jewelry from his limp fingers, otherwise he wouldn't have let go. At the time Nikk hadn't realized that it had been a gift from Eliziya.

This was awful. Beyond awful.

Things weren't supposed to turn out this way. Kyp was supposed to be happy and finally…finally find peace after all the sithspit he'd had to endure.

Death hadn't been on the menu.

Nikk shook his head sadly. No one expected to die, even when you knew you had to, no one expected Death to come knocking on your door with a big fat welcoming wagon.

He placed a hand on Eliziya's shoulder and felt her stiffen under his touch. Through the Force, he felt that her shell was beginning to crack. He could almost see the fissures running along, widening until the only thing that was left was her vulnerable self.

And reality.

"Gods Liz…I'm sorry."

She shook her head, strands of thick brown hair sticking to her tear streaked face. "It's not over yet. They're not done. Maybe…"

But her voice trailed off because she knew that her hope was a lost one. Nikk squeezed her shoulder, his heart breaking as he watched Cilghal do what she could. But not even a Jedi Healer could work a miracle.

The monitoring system silenced. The blaring alarms cut off, replaced by a monotonous even flat tone.

By the Force…

Nikk swallowed a lump in his throat.

His best friend…his only friend…was dead.

"No." He heard Eliziya's quiet gasp as they both watched Cilghal step away from the medical bed.

The silver chain came loose around Eliziya's neck. The pendant, so elegantly beautiful, dropped to the floor at the same moment Cilghal officially declared Jedi Durron's death.

* * *

Wasn't there a saying that right before you died your life flashed before your eyes? She'd heard it said a million times before and Eliziya had always wondered what she would see once her time was up. _If_ she would see anything at all because her life was average. Up to a point at least. Nothing big besides a crazy Mom and an overprotective brother. Just day to day stupid stuff to pass the time.

Until she'd met Kyp.

Kyp had changed _everything_.

Eliziya blinked.

Why the hell was she even thinking about that stupid saying anyway?

What she wanted to know was what happened when the person who turned out to mean everything to you suddenly blinked out of existence. Just like that. In a heartbeat. In the blink of an eye.

Gone.

Forever.

Eliziya expected _something_ to happen. _Anything_.

Because this was big. This was huge.

And this was all so kriffing _wrong_.

One last beat of the heart, one last intake of breath and…_that was it_?

"No." Eliziya shook her head. Nikk's heavy hand squeezed her shoulder as he inched closer, probably thinking his presence could sooth her.

Almost entranced, Eliziya watched as the Jedi Healer stepped away from Kyp. So this was really it? Just like that a beautiful life was snuffed out and this was all they had to show for it? They were turning their backs on him?

"No!" Eliziya yelled, shrugging away from Nikk. "You can't just leave him like this!"

The Jedi Healer turned her way, bulbous eyes lowered. "I am sorry." She said in a quiet, watery voice, shoulders slumping. "There is nothing more we can do. Not even the Force can heal that which does not want to be healed."

The Mon Cal could just as well have punched her in the face, broken her nose and added a headbutt for good measure. Not only was Eliziya completely stumped and shocked at what the Healer said but the words brought along a sort of pain that burned through her veins and broke out all over her skin. She couldn't even begin to describe how angry she suddenly was.

So death had become so normal to these people that they didn't seem to care anymore?

_Kriff. That._

"Run that by me again." Eliziya whispered in a dangerously low tone, dark eyes pinned on the Jedi Healer.

Oh, she suddenly felt the need to smash her fist into something hard. Multiple times. Over and over and over again.

This was unbelievable.

"An organism at war with itself is doomed." The Jedi Healer said. "I am saddened by this. As are we all."

"_Saddened_?" Eliziya echoed in a high pitched voice, unable to comprehend that these Jedi, supposedly the greatest baddest sons-of-siths out there, were giving up…on the man she loved. "That's all you have to say? That you're _saddened_?"

It was like someone had pulled the floor from beneath her feet. She was falling through an endless black tunnel, arms and legs flailing while she tried to grab on to the light. But seemed light wasn't interested. The more she reached out to grab it, the further away it went. Until there was nothing left but despair.

It took hold of her mind, of her heart. Despair washed away everything that was good and it left behind only anger and pain.

And it was too much to bear.

She heard Nikk's voice. She knew he was trying to console her, console himself but…no…there would be no consoling. Because Eliziya would not accept Kyp's death. She would not accept Cilghal's reasoning.

"He can't die." Eliziya whispered.

"Liz…I'm sorry." Nikk said from behind her. She felt his hands on her shoulders. "But…it's over."

Just a nicer way of saying that he was dead, that he was never coming back.

"_Stop it!_" She whirled around on him, hands balled into tight fists at her side. She imagined pushing him, slamming those fists into his chest just to let go of her anger – and suddenly Nikk stumbled back.

He gaped at her, blinked a few times. And then he slowly extended a hand, palm up. "_Eliziya_. You need to calm the hell down."

"Kriff calming down!"

How the hell could he even _think_ about calming down?

This was so _not_ a time to be calm.

For the first time in her life she'd finally met someone who made her laugh, a person she could open up to; she didn't have to pretend to be someone else around him. But that was all over with now, wasn't it?

She took a step towards his unmoving body; her fingers found his hand, rough and calloused. She noticed that his nails had been broken. Must have hurt something awful, Eliziya thought while she ran her thumb along his knuckles. His wounds would never heal.

Kyp's last words to her were forever burned into her heart. Had he loved her? Would they have been happy together?

Eliziya swallowed as a sob caught in her throat.

They would have been perfect together.

"It wasn't supposed to end this way, Kyp." She let the tears go. "Not like this."

Leaning forward, Eliziya kissed his cheek. His skin was still warm. But soon he'd be cold and stiff like a block of ice.

The thought nearly made her gag.

Her tears pearled down the side of his face as her lips wandered to the tip of his nose, to each eye and then she hovered above his lips.

His last words echoed through her mind again. No one had ever said such loving and kind words to her before. No one had ever made her feel special before. But Kyp…Gods, he was amazing. Kyp was hers.

And now he was dead.

But he'd asked for forgiveness.

And so she would grant it.

Eliziya touched her forehead to his. "This is my gift to you." She whispered softly. "I have nothing else to give. You've already taken my heart." It was beyond difficult to keep her voice steady but she managed. "_I forgive you_." She said against his lips.

She kissed him.

One last kiss good-bye.

"I love you."

Her lips lingered on his and when she finally backed away, she couldn't stop herself from crying. Pain slapped into her from all fronts and it nearly brought her to her knees.

She knew Nikk had stepped up behind her. His presence was her rock in all this.

Eliziya looked over her shoulder and met his bright blue eyes. He was hurting, just like she was.

He'd just lost his best friend.

Eliziya had possibly lost the love of her life.

"It's time to go." Nikk whispered, extending his hand.

She turned back to Kyp, burning his features into her memory. She would never forget him. She couldn't. And she would mourn him for as long as it took for the pain to fade away.

Somehow she knew it would take forever.

Pulling herself together, Eliziya took a deep, quivering breath and stepped away. Her fingers slipped from Kyp's hand and then it was done.

She'd said good-bye.

And then she kriffing lost it.


End file.
